Speaker Quinn, Council Member Dromm Call for Legal End to Trade Fair Lockout at Queens Rally

QUEENS, N.Y. - April 26, 2013 - PRLog -- On Friday, April 26th, New York City Council Speaker and Mayoral Hopeful Christine Quinn joined Queens Council Member Daniel Dromm in attending a spirited rally aimed at pressuring Farid Jaber, the owner of 9 Trade Fair Supermarkets in Queens, to legally end the now six week-long lockout of nearly 100 unionized meat workers who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 342.  The rally, which took place at a Trade Fair located in Jackson Heights, New York, consisted of a crowd of over 75 people, which included the locked out meat workers, their families, neighboring labor unions, and concerned citizens.  

Upon the meat workers conducting a brief Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike on the morning of March 13th in response to several alleged abuses committed by the company, including harassment, intimidation, and threats of termination, Trade Fair management locked the workers out despite the workers offering an “unconditional return to work” later that afternoon.  However, due to mounting pressure from the community and elected officials over the past several weeks, Trade Fair has recently begun to bring some of the unionized workers back to their jobs.  Unfortunately, in bringing only some of the workers back, Trade Fair is continuing to violate labor laws.  Among the violations Trade Fair is committing include neglecting to return the entire bargaining unit as a whole, changing the store locations of returned workers, unilaterally reducing their hours, and unilaterally cutting their wages.  “Under the laws of a lockout, Trade Fair is required to bring all of their union workers back at the same conditions they were working under prior to the lockout, but they have failed to do so,” said Kate Meckler, UFCW Local 342’s Director of Communications.  “This is yet just another example of Trade Fair believing they are above the law.”    

Having previously advocated on behalf of the union workers by sending a letter to Trade Fair management, which demanded an end to the lockout, Speaker Quinn continued to show support Friday by making an appearance at the rally.  Speaker Quinn expressed that it was important for her to stand with the locked out workers and let them know that she was in their corner.  “No one should be penalized for standing up for their own rights, and the City Council will not tolerate any unjust treatment of New Yorkers,” said Speaker Quinn. “We call on Trade Fair to allow these locked out employees to return to work so that they can begin serving their community and supporting their families again.”

Echoing the sentiments of Speaker Quinn, Council Member Daniel Dromm, who has ardently supported the union workers from the beginning of the dispute, stressed that Trade Fair needs to not only become a better employer, but a better neighbor to the surrounding community as well.  “Our community will not tolerate Trade Fair's unjust treatment of their workers," he said. “We are demanding all of their union workers be brought back under the same working conditions they had prior to this lockout. Trade Fair needs to abide by the law and provide living wages and affordable healthcare to their workers.  Most of all, Trade Fair must treat these workers with the dignity and respect they deserve."

Currently, Local 342 is continuing to move forward with various charges against Trade Fair at the National Labor Relations Board, including Unfair Labor Practices that were committed prior to the lockout, as well as several new issues that have arisen during lockout.  “We believe that when all is said and done, Trade Fair will be held legally responsible for all of the violations they have committed,” Meckler concluded.