King Kullen's meat and seafood workers strike, saying management engaged in unfair labor practices
Meat and seafood department workers John Crecco of Hicksville, left, along with Al Spicciatie, of Kings Park, Phil Balistrei, of Lake Grove and Joey Messina, of West Islip, picket outside of the King Kullen store in Huntington Station on Friday. Credit: Rick Kopstein
King Kullen’s meat and seafood workers are on strike, following failed negotiations for a new contract and allegations that the grocer engaged in unfair labor practices.
The supermarket chain’s approximately 150 full- and part-time meat and seafood workers at 25 Long Island stores went on strike Thursday afternoon after King Kullen’s negotiating team walked away from the bargaining table, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 342, which has offices in Bohemia and on Staten Island.
King Kullen Grocery Co., though, said in a statement Friday that it is committed to cooperating with the unionized workers to reach a fair contract agreement.
The meat and seafood workers’ last contract expired in October, the union said.
For months, the union and King Kullen have been seeking to reach an agreement over the workers’ wages, retirement benefits and other terms, but the strike is over the "behavior" of the grocer’s management, said Keeley Lampo, director of activities and communications for UFCW Local 342.
"It’s a lot of really negative behavior toward the employees," she said.
UFCW Local 342 filed several unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that King Kullen has surveilled workers during union meetings and participated in retaliatory actions, such as speaking in a demeaning manner to employees, changing work schedules without notice and altering store policies, all in violation of the contract, Lampo said.
A mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was brought on in January to assist in the contract negotiations, she said.
King Kullen officials maintain that the nearly century-old company is negotiating in good faith, according to the Friday statement.
"We value the men and women who work in our seafood and meat departments and remain committed to negotiating to reach a fair contract. In the meantime, we apologize for any service disruptions customers may experience as we work through this process. Our goal is to protect jobs and continue to deliver the best quality and freshest meat and seafood to our customers," the statement said.
King Kullen's meat and seafood departments remain open but the availability of products might vary by store, the company said.
Headquartered in Hauppauge, King Kullen Grocery Co. operates 29 stores on Long Island, including four Wild by Nature natural food stores. Only the meat and seafood workers at the King Kullen stores are striking.
The 25 King Kullen supermarkets include locations in Bethpage, Huntington Station, Lindenhurst, Massapequa Park and Bay Shore.
Founded in Queens in 1930, King Kullen is the largest family-owned grocery chain on Long Island.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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