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Piggly Wiggly to Restore Worker Hours

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A U.S. District Court judge has ordered a Piggly Wiggly supermarket here to restore full-time status to workers whose hours were cut without bargaining with their union.

At the request of the National Labor Relations Board, Judge C.N. Clevert Jr. also ordered the supermarket to immediately offer reinstatement to four employees who resigned after their hours were reduced. The temporary injunction will continue until the underlying case is resolved by the NLRB.

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According to a complaint issued by the NLRB regional office in Milwaukee, supermarket managers reduced the hours of 19 employees last September without notice, citing the impending opening of a non-union competitor nearby. The move to part-time status also resulted in the loss of health insurance. Supermarket employees are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1473.

At the time of the reduction of hours, Piggly Wiggly managers berated union officials for not helping the employees in letters that were posted on the bulletin board. Judge Clevert noted “the unilateral reductions, open hostility to the union, [and] efforts to undermine the union’s credibility” in issuing the injunction, which requires that future changes to employee status be negotiated with the union.

The store is owned by Piggly Wiggly Midwest here.

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