LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Hire back the union workers

Posted

To the editor:

(re: “Union workers want jobs back at Key Food,” July 30)

To the new owners of Key Food, as the pandemic continues to upend our lives, grocery workers — like so many other “essential” workers — have continued to be the quiet heroes of this crisis.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York, many people who were fortunate enough to retain employment were able to safely work from home, but not our grocery workers. These heroes have been on the front lines of the pandemic for the past five months, risking their lives to ensure their fellow New Yorkers have the food and supplies our families need.

These heroes include the workers of your North Riverdale store, which you only took control of a few weeks ago, some of whom have worked at this location for more than 20 years.

New York City is a union town, and Riverdale is a union community. Thousands of union members — from health care workers to teachers to grocery workers — call Riverdale home. We are also a close-knit, supporting and caring neighborhood. We look out for one another, and stand up for each other when no one else will.

While you are new to our neighborhood, your callous treatment of our front-line grocery workers is an affront to our community’s values.

That is why I’m writing this letter. That is why I have proudly stood outside your store with 21 former Key Food workers whom you pushed out the door, solely due to their union membership. These essential workers enabled us to get groceries and cleaning supplies at the height of the pandemic, and deserve much better than the treatment they have received from you thus far.

It is unconscionable that you have refused to rehire these workers simply because they are unionized, especially amidst a pandemic-induced recession.

If the moral imperative were not enough to convince you to rehire these workers, let me simply remind you that you are on the wrong side of the law.

The Grocery Worker Retention Act, passed by the city council in 2016, requires that new grocery store owners must employ all workers of the previous owner for a 90-day transition period at minimum. You must put these workers back on payroll immediately.

As a fellow union member, I will continue to stand with my fellow brothers and sisters in RWDSU Local 338 by encouraging all our neighbors to shop elsewhere until you do.

I urge you to do the right thing. Not just because you are required to by law, but because you know it is the neighborly thing to do.

Eric Dinowitz

The author is a city council candidate.

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Eric Dinowitz,

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