AHOLD, TEAMSTERS TO STUDY CROSS-DOCKING'S EFFECT ON JOBS

CHRIS O'LEARY

ATLANTA -- Ahold USA here is jointly sponsoring a study with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Washington, to determine the impact of the retailer's use of cross-docking on local economies.

The study, which could begin as early as next month, is part of an agreement reached with the union earlier this year, after the Teamsters charged that a new distribution center being built for Tops Markets, Buffalo, N.Y., would result in heavy area job losses. The union said cross-docking, which is planned on a large scale for the new facility, would contribute considerably to job losses.

Observers said results of the cross-docking study will likely be compared against the findings of a Teamsters-sponsored survey conducted by Cornell University last year, which predicted up to 5,300 Buffalo-area jobs would be lost due to the new Tops warehouse.

Ahold and the union will both choose third-party consultants, and possibly universities, to conduct and write the survey. The study will most likely center on Buffalo, but other cities may be analyzed as well, said Andy Banks, a Teamsters spokesman.

"We've come to an agreement that we're very happy with," Banks told SN. "We've agreed that Ahold and the union will jointly do a study on cross-docking and how it affects area employment."

Several executives at Ahold-owned U.S. chains confirmed the studies will take place but declined to elaborate. In addition to Tops Markets, Ahold's U.S. chains include Bi-Lo, Mauldin, S.C.; Edwards Super Food Stores, Windsor Locks, Conn.; Finast, Maple Heights, Ohio, and Giant Food Stores, Carlisle, Pa.

"In the United States our divisions been given full alert on all of these [issues]," said Hans Gobes, senior vice president of communications for Royal Ahold, Zandaam, Netherlands. "It's all in the works. Everything has been followed through and is set [to begin in] the fall."

Ahold also agreed to conduct studies on the environmental impact of any new distribution centers as well as on distribution alternatives for its Northeast operations, which is scheduled to begin this fall.

The cross-docking study will focus in part on how the initiative affects direct-store-delivery drivers, since Tops reportedly plans to incorporate many current DSD deliveries into cross-docking programs at its new warehouse. The survey may also recommend alternative jobs for DSD drivers, Banks said.

"Some of those guys are going to lose their jobs. There's no doubt about that," said Richard Kochersperger, chairman of the food marketing department at Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia.

"A major issue has become what do [retailers] do with DSD products?" he added. A growing number of retailers using cross-docking "don't want DSD people in their stores. They don't want the paperwork or the headaches."

Kochersperger said that since Efficient Consumer Response initiatives like cross-docking are now starting to affect non- supermarket employees, confrontations with labor are going to be inevitable.

"That problem is for real and I think it's going to grow," he said.

Ahold and the Teamsters agreed their relations have greatly improved since earlier this year, when the union took out several full-page advertisements in Dutch newspapers criticizing Ahold's past history with organized labor.

Along with the proposed studies, the retailer also agreed to meet with the Teamsters yearly and recognized the need to build better relationships with local governments and labor unions.

"Our relations with the Teamsters are very good now," Gobes said.