Daily Chronicle
By Kate Weber
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Marcella Robinson of
Chicago was one of four people standing on
the corner of Annie Glidden Road and Taylor
Street in DeKalb on Monday afternoon
picketing the new Schnucks supermarket. She
was participating in an informational
campaign regarding the local supermarket’s
nonunion stance. The DeKalb Schnucks is the
first in Illinois to use nonunion labor.
Chronicle photo by KATE WEBER
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Marcella Robinson and Teresa Ramirez stood in the
wind and snow Monday to protest the labor practices of a DeKalb grocery
store.
Robinson and Ramirez, members of the United Food and
Commercial Workers International Union, were two of four pickets
standing outside DeKalb's Schnucks supermarket to participate in an
informational campaign regarding the local store's nonunion stance.
The DeKalb store, on the corner of Annie Glidden Road and Taylor Street,
is the only Schnucks supermarket in Illinois without union laborers,
according to UFCW Local 1546 Communications Director Jeff Weiss.
“Our union is out there asking the DeKalb public why,” Weiss said in a
phone interview Monday. “What makes DeKalb different than any other city
in the state?”
Since the DeKalb store's grand opening a month and a half ago, the UFCW
Local 1546 has had people picketing near the entrances of Schnucks to
inform the public of the supermarket's use of nonunion employees.
The UFCW Local 1546 represents workers from a range
of industries, including grocery and drug retailers, meat cutting,
processing, packing and chemical works.
Each day, members of the union travel on a volunteer basis to the DeKalb
supermarket to picket from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
The main objective of the campaign is to bring awareness to the DeKalb
community about the nonunionized Schnucks, Weiss said, and to persuade
people to shop only at local unionized stores - such as Brown's County
Market and Jewel - until a meeting between the union and Schnucks
representatives has been set.
Although no reason has been given as to why the DeKalb Schnucks decided
to hire outside the union, Weiss sees it as a business move to stay
competitive with retail giant Wal-Mart.
“We hope to show the company that the people of DeKalb do support the
good wages and benefits of a unionized company and to inform the
management that they do care about area standards,” Weiss said.
He said the pickets will continue to show support
for the unionized workers until an agreement is made.
Schnucks officials did not immediately return phone messages left by the
Daily Chronicle on Monday.
