More News

Following labor negotiations, 341 full-time union jobs will be retained when Giant Food transfers its Jessup warehouse operations to another company, according to a union leader.

The region's top supermarket chain entered into a tentative agreement to transfer its dry grocery business to Jessup Logistics, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers of Keene, N.H., this year. Giant Food, whose regional headquarters are in Landover, is owned by Royal Ahold of the Netherlands.

"We have reached agreement with Teamsters Local 730 concerning the effects of the transfer and hope to reach agreement with the remaining local unions impacted by this tentative transaction in the coming weeks," Giant spokesman Jamie Miller wrote in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

Under the agreement reached this month, Giant will guarantee 341 union jobs at all times in the Jessup warehouse, which will be leased by Jessup Logistics, said Ritchie Brooks, president of Teamsters Local 730. If Jessup Logistics were to fire someone in January, that full-time position must be filled with a part-time union employee, based on seniority, he said.

Union workers who choose to take the buyout Giant is offering through the transition to Jessup Logistics will also be replaced by part-time employees. The buyout offer lasts through Sept. 30.

Teamsters Local 730 of Washington, D.C., represents close to 500 union workers at the Jessup warehouse, including 341 full-time employees and about 140 part-timers. Two other unions also have members at the warehouse, with fewer than 10 employees each, Brooks said.

In June, Giant was not guaranteeing the 341 permanent jobs, although the company was promising that it would replace laid-off employees with the part-time workers, Brooks said.

"We basically stood our ground," he said.

Brooks said the Teamsters threatened to hand out leaflets about the issue to Giant shoppers and to return their own Giant shopper bonus cards if the grocer did not honor the union's previous contract and retain the jobs.

"This is about guaranteed jobs," Brooks said. "It's time for people to stand up to these big companies."

C&S has 50 warehouses in 11 states with annual sales of $19 billion.

Calls to C&S officials for comment were not returned by Gazette press time.

Brooks also expressed gratitude toward the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and its labor and industry commissioner, James R. DeJuliis, for meeting with the union after Brooks contacted Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

During the meeting, DeJuliis said, he ensured that the union leaders understood the availability of services from his department, including assistance for unemployment, home mortgage payments and wage issues.

"If we can offer our services, we're more than happy to," DeJuliis said, adding that he was pleased to see the union and Giant back at the negotiating table.