New Local 338 Members get $11,000 in Dispute (4/21/09)

Cashiers and clerks at Hatzalacha Supermarket, a kosher retail market serving the Satmar Hasidic Community in Brooklyn, New York, are already enjoying the benefits of having RWDSU Local 338 on their side, and they haven’t even ratified their first contract yet.

The employees at the supermarket, who voted to join RWDSU Local 338 earlier this year, have been awarded $11,000 by the National Labor Relations Board after the company reduced their hours by 30 percent and fired one employee, all as “punishment” for joining the union. The fired employee was also ordered rehired with back pay by the NLRB.

“This shows that you can’t illegally intimidate workers for wanting to join, or for joining a union,” said Local 338 President John Durso. “It was transparent to all of us that this was meant as payback for these workers who joined Local 338. Well now, they are going to have to pay back the workers all of the money that they owe them because they engaged in these tactics.”

Negotiations for the first RWDSU contract for the Hatzlacha workers are currently underway.