LAS VEGAS -- In its home country, U.K.-based Tesco is very familiar with the power of trade unions. As it moves into the Western U.S., however, it has apparently decided to run a non-union shop, a representative of United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 711 said, according to a report by The Las Vegas Business Press.
Tesco, the world's third-largest food retailer, plans to open 200 Fresh & Easy convenience stores in North America starting this year. It is focusing on the Las Vegas area, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. The company has [image-nocss] said that it plans to spend $400 million a year in the United States for the next five years.
Fourteen sites in the Las Vegas area have already been secured and additional locations are being researched. Each of the neighborhood markets will be roughly 10,000 square feet in sizeintentionally smaller than the usual supermarket in order to give customers a faster, easier shopping experience. The stores, which will be smaller than traditional supermarkets, will focus on ready-to-eat meals and offer more fresh and environmentally friendly products than what is sold at mainstream U.S. grocery and c-stores.
At a recent Ward 5 town hall meeting, Secretary Treasurer Mike Gittings told the attendees that Tesco would be picketed from day one because it was freezing the union out of its stores. In a later interview, he was less dogmatic, saying the picket lines were "possible," said the report.
Gittings told the meeting that the American unit of Tesco was hiring human resources staff and telling them "to use union-avoidance tactics."
"Tesco must've gotten wind they were breaking the law because now they're saying they might leave it up to employees to [unionize]," said Gittings. "Americans must have the same freedom as [British and European] workers," he said. Reports in the British presshavespeculatedthat Tesco would abandon unions in the Unites States, the U.S. newspaper said.
A report in the Financial Times said the company was advertising for human resources executives who would work to thwart union organizing and maintain "a union-free status," added the Las Vegas Business Press, which could not reach Tesco officials for comment.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.