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Bashas’ says group’s efforts haven’t hurt its sales
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Bashas’ Supermarkets officials said there’s been no impact on their business after a union-backed organization accused them of selling expired infant formula.
“We have not really seen a measurable slide in sales,” said Mike Proulx, Bashas’ president and chief operating officer for the Chandler-based company. “That’s not to say we’re not concerned about the impact, because we are,” he added.
In June, members of Hungry For Respect, a group pushing to unionize Bashas’ 14,000 workers, said they found hundreds of expired infant formula containers at the chain’s stores throughout Arizona. Hungry For Respect, a group formed by the United Food Workers Coalition union, said the containers were purchased primarily from Bashas’ and Food City stores.
The group, which insists the study was done in the public’s interest and not as a veiled attack on the company, said they bought the products around May and June after receiving complaints from Bashas’ employees. The group’s representatives said workers are unable to devote adequate time to ensure that the expired products are removed from shelves and replenished.
Katy Giglio, a Hungry For Respect spokeswoman, said her members are frustrated that the company has not provided a response to the group’s accusations after it shared the receipts and containers with company lawyers.
“They’ve had the information for over three weeks now,” she said.
However, Proulx said they may never be able to determine when and where the containers were purchased because of the amount of time that’s passed since their purchase.
He said the union’s real motive its to pressure them into entering a labor contract without conducting a vote among its work force. He pointed to other grocery store chains, such as Food Lion, which an UFCW-affiliated group accused of selling outdated formula at stores in Virginia in 1995.
He said the union’s longterm strategy is to chip away at Arizona’s right to work status, which, among other things requires private ballots during a unionization election.
But Giglio said the group’s campaign has nothing to do with Arizona’s right to work status.
“If this suddenly was a lie, why aren’t they suing us?” she asked.
“They’re trying to change the subject,” she added.
The company has vowed to take the union head-on, and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing and advertising to combat the UFCW’s message.
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