"Ryan has paid for rice [...] when prompted to do so by the cashier."

"Ryan has paid for all items [...] when prompted to do so by the cashier."

I see what you did there.

I wonder what the co-founder (CoFo?) thinks of all this.

First they came for the brown rice and tofu, and I said nothing, because frankly, that stuff tastes like ass.

Say goodbye to the friendliest store in town if the unions come in.

Ohhh Ryan Gaughan lawyer just made $200,000 and New Seasons got a union.

So that cramped store is going to be even more crowded than usual tonight? Awesome.

i love you portland mercury. this story has totally made my day and it's valentine's day. can you feel the love? yay for ryan and yay for people - employees even! - protesting the seven corners store. fuck yeah! i'm in denver at this time or i would already be there!

remember me (o: http://www.facebook.com/pages/kristins-boy…

Wouldn't EVERY shoplifter say that they were totally going to pay for that item, just as soon as someone noticed they were heading out the door with it? You don't wait for a personalized invitation to pay for your shit...

@REYMONT: BUT THIS GUY'S STORY IS THAT HE PAID WHAT WAS ASKED OF HIM. HE PUT IT ON THE CONVEYOR BELT AND THE CASHIER RUNG HIM UP. HE PRACTICED GOOD FAITH, AND THE CASHIER DID NOT CHARGE HIM THE CORRECT AMOUNT AND THEN GAUGHAN GOT FIRED FOR IT.

One of my friends got fired from that store for taking too long of a bathroom break. when people started saying that was unfair, they became targets. This most recent person to get fired was one of those targets.

Is it hilarious that my friend got fired for taking a giant dump? of course! is it funny that a new seasons employee got fired over brown rice and tofu? also yes.

but these are real people losing their income over b.s. if new seasons wants to have an image of being good to their employees, than they have to walk the walk or deal with the blowback

http://newseasonsmarketworkersvoice.org/

@Graham: SCOFFLAW.

The next time I go to New Seasons and DON'T see two employees playing grab ass while customers stand around waiting for service will be the first.

At a certain point you start to wonder why any company would do anything but treat their employees like shit. Hell, even people who have it good are eventually going to want to unionize for reasons like "establishing a peer-review system" for discipline (that's already being written into a Portlandia sketch, btw) so why bother trying to treat your people right? Just ride their asses until the eventual unionizing effort.

What's really disturbing about New Seasons is the way that they portray themselves as a community-oriented, worker-friendly store. They are neither. Last year, thousands of people urged them to pull Israeli products from the shelves as part of an international campaign against apartheid in Israel and the Occupied Territories; they refused to do so.

Now, they are showing that they are vehemently anti-worker as well. I hope that all Portlanders who support workers' rights will support this campaign, and realize that shopping at New Seasons does nothing more to support progressive causes than shopping at any other store would. As an alternative, there are both multiple co-ops (Food Front, People's), in Portland, as well as unionized grocery stores with UFCW (Fred Meyer, Safeway).

@ kollantai: PEACE OUT!

SMirk: Copying a portion of the website and posting it here as "the report" is a little sloppy. It's the fired dude's opinion of what happened. "Oh, it was just a little brown rice and tofu and the cashier was ok with it, you know, whatever, no big, and you know it was only the one time and everyone else was doing it and justification justification justification." I'm sure there's another side to this you and I will never know. At least present this as "fired dude's version of events."

Hey Kollantai, if you want the products of a country with a militaristic, aggressive occupying force out of a grocery store, how about asking them to pull out products from America? China might also be a worthy target. Your wordly concern for the Palestinians is itself a form of cultural imperialism. New Seasons was right to ignore you.

You hipsters are giving tofu a bad name!

Please understand, in the real world if you choose to steal, your employer may choose to fire you... that is all.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2012/03/4… (video link from rally)