ON VALENTINE’S DAY, ex-New Seasons employee Ryan Gaughan waved a deceptively sweet message on a giant sparkly heart amid a crowd of over 100 protesters outside the grocery chain’s SE Division Seven Corners location: “Take Me Back.”
Gaughan’s recent firing—over alleged tofu theft—has brought out some long-simmering frustrations among the workers of Portland’s champion chain. Now that the city’s homegrown “Friendliest Store in Town” has expanded and acquired new investors, interviews with four longtime workers at New Seasons’ Seven Corners store and two recently fired employees reveal a fear that their beloved employer will grow up to be a bully.
The controversy and public protest comes at a tricky time politically: Mayoral candidate Eileen Brady has built her campaign on her role co-founding New Seasons and faces a tough primary election fight in May.
Since December 2009, two of New Season’s founders have stepped down from CEO and board positions, and the grocer received an infusion from Endeavour Capital, a West Coast equity fund whose portfolio also includes Bi-Mart and WinCo. Since then, the company has opened or announced plans for four new branches.
“Since Endeavour came along, things have gotten less relaxed,” says a worker who’s been at the Seven Corners store for four years. “The rules seem to have gotten much stricter. New Seasons reflects the odd character of Portland and they’re in danger of losing that.”
“I think there’s been a definite change in management style,” says another four-year employee. “People are being written up for really silly things.”
While New Seasons took great pains not to lay off a single employee since the beginning of the recession, firings have become more frequent, say workers. Workers cited cases of employees being written up for drinking coffee while sweeping, showing too much cleavage, and using the bathroom after clocking in but before checking with a manager. They also mentioned the case of a worker who showed up late for several shifts but whose last strike came after calling to say he needed to take his girlfriend to the hospital.
“That’s straight up Walmart,” says a third worker. “A few years ago, a manager would have told that guy, ‘You go deal with your stuff, it’s okay.'”
New Seasons CEO Lisa Sedlar says some worker frustration is due to the stress of the chain opening two new locations in 10 weeks during the holiday season, but that management has never discussed cracking down harder on store rules.
“As far as having Endeavour as an equity partner, it hasn’t changed our day-to-day operating of the business,” says Sedlar. “Most of our good ideas come from staff. I don’t think our company culture has changed at all.”
Sedlar says she’s heard complaints about stricter enforcement only from the Seven Corners location.
“It’s possible that there are some newer managers who may be super black and white about applying policy,” she says, “and that’s something I’m looking into.”
Gaughan, who worked for New Seasons for more than nine years (the last seven in Seven Corners’ bulk aisle), attended a hearing with the National Labor Relations Board last week, arguing that his firing was retaliation for pro-worker activism.
Seven Corners workers say they’ve been meeting on the down low for the past two years, voicing complaints and coordinating to bring attention to specific issues, like advocating for transgender health care.
In the month before he was fired, Gaughan confronted Sedlar at an employee “Coffee Talk” session over the lack of cost-of-living salary increases. In his employee file after his firing, Gaughan found the company had combed through security camera footage to gather shots of him getting lunch and heading through the checkout line over five separate days after the Coffee Talk. On February 7, he was fired for allegedly stealing two scoops of rice and two scoops of tofu.
“They compiled a dossier on me,” says Gaughan.
“No one has ever been fired for speaking up,” says Sedlar, who can’t speak to the specific firing. “We’ve had that culture of speaking up since the very first day of New Seasons.”
New Seasons notes that Gaughan declined to follow through on its preferred “mediation” method of settling disputes over dismissals. Gaughan says mediation is unfair because employees never learn the name of the mediator who reviews their testimony—which is passed through New Seasons’ human resources department—or even the name of the third-party mediation company New Seasons uses.
The company’s laidback attitude when it comes to ringing up employees for (maybe not) every ounce of food and every cup of coffee may be changing, say workers, but they’re still excited to work for New Seasons.
“The good culture is not all gone,” says one employee who compared the current situation to her experience working at a Wild Oats during the “very sad” transition of the kookier local chain into Whole Foods. “We need to come together and get management to back off a little.”
Workers at New Seasons Market (and community supporters) can learn more about our campaign at: newseasonsmarketworkersvoice.org NSM Workers: we want to talk to you! Our jobs are great. Let’s keep them that way.
I was there when this little rally/protest was getting up to speed. At first I thought they were filming some stereotypically douchey Portlandia episode, what with all the bilingual bullhorn action, union solidarity chants,(really?) and people handing out fliers with Ryan’s take on the incident. I felt embarrassed watching the spectacle, to be honest.
“They compiled a dossier on me,” says Gaughan.
Employers will start doing that when they want to get rid of an employee, it’s pretty standard practice.
I wish we could get more than one obviously biased side of this story, but then that wouldn’t be Portland Mercury material, now would it?
I gather that the news being broken here is that it is possible that the Seven Corners New Seasons is potentially becoming more strict in applying company policies.
If that is accurate, then absent more thorough research or broader interviewing, I think the headline implying a company-wide cultural shift and a significant worker protest is inflammatory.
It is unclear to the reader whether information and interviews from the other stores are lacking from this piece because it doesn’t fit the narrative of “kookier local chain” to big business, or because of laziness.
Holy shit, THAT was what that was all about? I almost ran over some douchebag who ran out into the road waving a flyer at me in front of New Seasons.
@disastronaut: what, Lisa Sedlars’ response wasn’t enough for you to have “the other side of the story?” Well, in case you missed the real story, here it is: workers at 7 corners have been meeting – some for years, some for months – as a group to discuss workplace issues and a way to address management regarding said issues. This is one of the few legally protected rights left to workers in this country. That means it is illegal to retaliate against someone participating in said legal activity. New Seasons decided to fuck trifle legalities and target and entrap a worker who was actively participating in LEGALLLY PROTECTED ACTIVITY. Get it? Maybe that embarrasment over the “douchebag” rally is just your misdirected shame at being so douchbaggingly apathetic. Or, perhaps you were making your way to Pok Pok and those crazy working class people just got in your way?
The problem with New Season sifting through old security footage to find a way to fire Ryan is that it’s illegal. Oregon law forbids employers to selectively enforce rules in order to get rid of employees who are trying to organize, and that’s exactly what happened here. Now it is up to the state labor board to enforce the law.
Thanks for the background on this important story. Firing a worker who speaks out is a common tactic for bosses who want to intimidate workers and stymie organizing. We are not fooled by the trumped up charges against Gaughan. The article doesn’t While management likes to say the “culture” NSM hasn’t changed since Endeavor entered the picture, it is clear that workers see things differently. The hidden cameras in the work areas that have been installed recently, point to a hostile work environment that contradicts the New Seasons “friendly” atmosphere.
There is lots of support in the community for Gaughan and fellow NSM employees. We respect your right to speak out and organize.
It’s sad to hear that one of Portland’s favorite local companies has fired a long-time employee (9 years! damn!) because they were advocating for workers rights – but this is neither surprising or uncommon.
What is uncommon, though, is the exceptional morale of this worker and other workers in their effort to stand up for themselves. How inspirational! Imagine if every time someone got fired unfairly they called out to their co-workers and to their community to stand behind them in support?
These are our neighbors, friends, family, cashiers, colleagues – they are not “douchebags” or cause for embarrassment!
Once New Seasons hires Ryan back and pays greater respect towards all their workers will they work to win back that “good culture” that has been slowly deteriorating.
Correction to the last paragraph: Wild Oats was never a local chain here. Should it say “Nature’s” which was bought out by Wild Oats?
@3: The suggestion is that part of the culture changing isn’t just enforcing policies more strictly but that this has been carried out disproportionately toward employees specifically at the Seven Corners store who have more directly tried to exercise their rights as workers and speak up about things like wages, and it seems like that’s the main location where there’s been a push toward unionization. There’s likely just less to report on at the other locations.
@2: Oh god, an interpreter on a bullhorn? Handing out flyers? Singing a traditional union song? Those are all pretty much what you’ll find most places in the world where workers are staging a public rally to raise awareness about a situation without going so far as to stage a walkout or picket. I’m not sure why a lot of folks here need to act so above that kind of thing.
Really New Seasons? Firing someone for not being rung up for two scoops of tofu and two scoops of rice after over nine years of service? I just saw an employee wearing a shirt that said “I’ve eaten my weight in New Seasons samples.” and the produce staff practically shoves free fruit in my face. Somehow I don’t think a buck or two of product was the actual reason behind the firing. It’s almost a joke that that’s all they could come up with on the guy. But, firing employees for organizing for a better workplace is illegal, so…
So let me get this straight, someone steals, (STEALS), from a business (a clear breach of ANY company’s policy), and the business is wrong for firing the thief? It seems pretty cut and dry to me that the right thing was done. Why has someone who was clearly wrong, suddenly become the victim?
Regardless of who owns the company, rules are rules, and policies are policies, and if it is too difficult to abide by such ~ then one has the freedom to move on to another workplace!
“It’s possible that there are some newer managers who may be super black and white about applying policy,” she says, “and that’s something I’m looking into.”
______
The person fired should have been promoted after 9 years to a managerial position.
This corporation with thousands of employees is “super” scared of Union activity, and are cutting off their nose to spite their salad bar.
this sounds like a case of selective enforcement. there are “rules”, that are not followed, or followed mostly in spirit but not in letter. then, when management has a problem with some one, they use the common and accepted practice that goes against the “rules” as pretext for firing some one. this is illegal. although i am sure management at NSM, as well as a few posters here would prefer it was not.
but get this. for a long time now, we (as workers in america) have gotten used to cameras on every wall at work, drug tests, having to ask permission to use the rest room, arbitrary discipline, sexual harassment, total bullshit personal policies, stagnant wages and reduced benefits. thats the short list.
and now, in general society, we have more and more cameras every where (drones will be next), drug tests for social benefits, long prison sentences for small infractions, and other such trends.
the “corporate mind” that rules NSM, and Bi-Mart, and Wall Mart, also basically runs the Government. So if you want to know where this country is headed, look at a personal manual from some bullshit corporate chain. thats how they want to regulate society.
I bet in 50 years we will all be wearing shitty polyester uniforms with plastic name tags greeting each other with a smile as we stand in line on the giant conveyor belts that have replaced the streets and side walks. we will all be polite because because of the personal surveillance drone the size of a gnat that is buzzing around our head. we will ask this gnat when it is permissible to take a leek, or unbutton the top button of the itchy, crappy garishly colored uniform, the winged algorithm will decide. if we don’t like this life style, we will be able to “quit” and attempt to salvage enough protein in the “outback” waste dumps for survive another day.
and when some one stands up to all this, they should be supported. because it’s not just a fight of this one person, at this one store. it’s a question of how our lives are going to be governed, from the day to day. and as it stands now, workers at NSM for the duration of their shift, do not work in a place that is getting better, it’s getting worse. we would do well to recognize out own struggles in this situation, and offer support.
I agree with ryan.
(hold on, opening my profit share)
See, I too work at NSM and have found their practices to be counter the culture they espouse on orientation. Sure NSM has created over 2000 jobs, matches 401k, considers two days off in a row standard retail practice, pays a wage on par with other retail establishments, and offers excellent health care (transgender specific issues included), but, they stopped being lax. I mean, as they’ve grown they’ve decided to enforce many of the policies they’ve only given lip-service to in the past. Ryan should get his job back not only because he only filched a little tofu (it’s basically like stealing air with the consistancy of wet mud), and maybe added an extra 20 minute break once every other hour of his shift (what’s time theft amoung friends?), but he’s a nice guy who worked at a moderate pace sometimes and is a nice guy. Now I know what you’re thinking, it was because he was trying to unionize NSM, but i’m here to tell you that that is simply not the case; because if he had actually voiced anything with a modicum of sense regarding the joining of a union, he would have discovered that what a union would provide is far less than what NSM already freely gives – like 12 tardies a year, or 9 absences, or the above mentioned profit share (which would most likely go to union dues). No way would Ryan be fired for speaking cogently in favor of a union because in the retail industry it just simply can’t be done (see california for ex.).
But back to Ryan, I agree with what someone on here mentioned that Ryan should not only be rehired but promoted as well whether he wants it or not because he’s been here for 9 years…and that’s a long time. And heck, I’d work in his department, who wouldn’t want to work for someone so ethically balanced, who employs only the soundest of reasoning.
#14: quit bogarting the kool-aid! And just so that I get this straight, what you’re alledging is that this guy Ryan took off (I think my math is correct here) two hours and ten minutes of every eight hour shift he worked, and yet it took NSM 9.5 years to get rid of him. Wow! Where do I sign up? If you work a little harder, you’ll soon have that NSM PR badge you’ve been coveting for so long.
I worked at Fred Meyer for 6 years (produce), and I am here to tell you there is a fuck of a lot of nepotism going on in most of these companies. Ever wonder why some people keep their jobs regardless of performance? So this employee was fired for violating company policy which was not enforced,and it’s somewhat of a weak reason, this is true. The rules should be followed however because you never know when top management or corporate management will change. I noticed the company I worked for has become a fuck of a lot more lax than when I was there 6 years ago (I still shop there and know current employees) because back then people were getting away with murder because of a) the union( or the threat of it. This is part of what Natures…..errr….New Seasons is scared of. The majority of employees did not abuse this however, just a couple of fuck ups who knew it would protect them. B)Nepotism Our manager hated the union, here is a verbatim quote from him “None of you deserve your jobs, you are only here because the union protects you”. Not true, the majority of people did a great job and Local 555 can’t do shit anyway. I am fine with these employees having the public rally. I am sure this scares the crap out of Eileen Brady (and possibly New Seasons). In 2000 our union had a strike and along with many others I took to the lines and lost wages but supported the union. The other employees who scabbed KEPT THEIR FUCKING JOBS YEARS AFTER THE FACT. Nice one,eh. I hope these New Seasons employee’s fare better
The tofu is a red herring, as is “time-theft” of people going to the bathroom. Basically those with power don’t want to have it questioned. A group of workers pushed New Seasons to do what is right, because they were unwilling to do so on their own, even with though they are “progressive”. Managers had to be pushed to provide adequate healthcare for all their workers. They weren’t doing so, because they aren’t “friendly”, they care about profit, not people. They were willing to discriminate to save costs. They likewise had to be pushed to provide safety equipment.
Let’s be glad for the trouble-makers. Because of them we have weekends, overtime, safety laws, and any rights at all. I’m sure they were fired and bullied to keep their mouths shut, to stop working for all of us. To say that Ryan should have been happy with what he had, because others have it worse is missing the point entirely. New Seasons workers will get worse conditions. If folks don’t push for it, all of us will. Take a look around at the world, it’s a push to the bottom for workers as those with wealth get richer and richer.
#15, i think the added and extra imply more than what was allowed…but hey, english is a hard language.
Great article! It shines a little light on typical managerial problems, and how they manifest in such negative effects as the sudden firing of a long-term employee (and in such a rotten way). I wish the best for Ryan and the workers at this NSM location! You have much support!
#14 Sure, I understand what is implied here; that an employee worked at NSM for 9 years whilst only “really” working for five hours and fifty minutes out of every eight hour shift. Minus the time manadated by Oregon law of two ten minute breaks and one thirty, this would mean that said employee took an extra eighty minutes worth of breaks a shift, and that it took NSM nine years to discover this. Sounds absolutely plausible to me. I also understand that the employee presented the tofu to a cashier who then failed to charge him. Sounds like “filching” to me. Additionally, it has been implied to me in the past that only NSM management were allowed such “extras” but apparently that is not the case. If NSM is an EOE in this way then – again – where do I sign up!
previous comments directed at #18
Ryan Gaughan ≠ César Chávez, sorry. Spin it all you want, he stole from the company.
Rules are rules, it doesn’t matter that you can point to other employees like a child on the playground and proclaim ‘They are doing the same wrong thing as I am, why am I the only one getting detention?” Everyone has worked at a place where things like this happen, it’s the nature of the business. Is it “fair”? No. Should you be able to violate company policy and not expect to have to account for your behavior eventually? No.
If Ryan had been following the rules in the first place his “speaking out for workers rights” wouldn’t have triggered his eventual termination. If Ryan really wanted to change things for the better he should have started with his personal work ethic first. I’ve worked in union shops and was “that guy” for a time being. You seriously have to follow every company rule as it is written, otherwise you are an easy target for management to eventually get rid of.
#22 “he stole from the company”? Are you the Pointy-Haired Boss from DILBERT or something?
Why are you so protective of the Holy Prerogatives of Management? It’s not like the managers ever protected you. It’s stupid to take the side of those in power if you’re not in power yourself.
It’s a Job, one applied for voluntarily. On day 1 of your new job would you act with the same regard as you did on day 3000? If not, why not. If Company standards & your own ethics of deprtment are at odds w/one another – Buy a major share or look for another Job.
This is what I have to say and if the shoe fits, wear it!
I am assuming that you are white, in your mid 30s, knowledgeable, savvy with internet and knowledge acquiring skills. You got a job that in reality ought to be going to a minority worker, a worker that is starting the American dream and needs to sell himself low because he lacks this orr the other skill that you may have and hansomly, but you took this one, drank the kool-aid, enjoy the minimum wage 401k that amounts to near nothing and brag for a health insurance that ought to be a right, not a privilege.
Now what is wrong with this picture? Yes, you got it. You are under selling yourself. What is going to happen when you are 50 at this pace? I will tell you what is going to happen. You will be dumped and you will be very poor because you wasted your life as a nearly minimum wager. You settled for less. You blame the economy, the republicans, the jews, the taliban, 9/11, the chinese, blah, blah, blah when the only one to blame is yourself.
This is my advice. Dump New Seasons. Pack your crap and if you don’t find at least an 80k job a year, get a passport and go to an emerging economy and deal in trade. Yes indeed. Import/export and get a big fat commission that will build up so then you can retire near wealthy and with no financial worries like you will have if you stay here making a misery wage. What do you think happened in decades past? Visionaries went overseas and grabbed a hell of a lot of resources and via work, ingenuity, trade, etc created wealth. They were not afraid. Why are you and remain in your cozy comfort zone?
New Seasons is a scam. An overpriced product that preys on your weaknesses. If you do a lab exam in all meat and produce, you will be no healthier than a Freddies or a Safeway.
You need to wake up. You need to assume the line and fight it by boycotting this store and any business that practices Dacronian labor laws. Even if you have a Union, look at it with a microscope. If your pension money goes to political campaigns, think again.
We, yes you and I are 100% guilty because we are “enablers”. These employers are like alcoholics and we are not only the wine servers but the ones that finance their vice.
Think about it. Act accordingly!
I’ve proudly worked at NSM for years and I find it impossible to believe any of this sensationalistic nonsense. In the past, I’ve worked for big corporations that treat their employees like chattel and I’m here to tell you my time at NSM doesn’t even remotely resemble those experiences. New Seasons is not the evil empire. It is a tireless supporter of the local food economy, a staunch advocate for hunger relief, and a benefactor for literally hundreds of local charitable organizations. Everyone assumes that because New Seasons has grown that it’s stopped caring about its employees. I’ve always been treated with respect, dignity, and generosity. And, the more New Seasons has grown, the more diligently they’ve worked to preserve and enhance our culture. No one’s talking about that because it’s easier to cast aspersions at the first sign of controversy than it is to get a whole and honest picture of what’s really going on. I don’t know a thing about Ryan’s firing, but I resent everyone on the outside assuming they know what it’s like on the inside. The Mercury article is extremely misleading and the implications are defamatory. This is sloppy reporting Ms. Mirk. If you’re going to write the story, write the whole store next time.
Just when I was starting to think all NSM workers were just whiners, Truth comes along.
Just out of curiosity, what is the pay range for the average floor worker at NSM?
How do the rest of the bennies stack up? Vacation, how much do they match for 401k, etc?
#27 in other words:
Just when frankieb was getting tired of reading statements that challenge his “always root against the underdog” philosophy, someone named Truth (who has one person’s limited perspective and admits to knowing nothing about what’s at the crux of this story) comes along to validate his prejudices for him. How nice.
#26: Your experience and opinion as a former New Seasons employee does not fit the current narrative and therefore will be ignored, or at least marginalized. Sorry.
@ 11: You seem to be having difficulty grasping some of the nuances here, so allow me to lend a hand… The whole point of this controversy, and to a degree, of the article itself, is that given NS’s historically relaxed practices around ringing up deli items for employees, this fella may not have stolen anything at all if we take intent into account, and in fact may have been fired for an entirely different reason. Go back through the article one more time, you’ll pick up on this eventually.
@ 29: +1 my man, +1.
#29 – One person’s limited perspective? Are you serious? This is exactly the sanctimonious, holier-than-thou bullshit that’s pissing me off right now. I wonder, between you and me, who’s perspective is more limited? Let me ask you: Have you worked for New Seasons for the last several years? Is it your employer that people are demonizing? Do you know the people who run the company personally? Have you had a conversation with them? Talked about their families or what they did on the weekend? Do you know how the “crux of this story” is being discussed by other employees of New Seasons? Do you know anything at all about how New Seasons is managed? Do you have any actual, verifiable information about the way New Seasons employees are treated by management? I’ll remind you (or let you know, in the off chance you know absolutely nothing about what you’re commenting on) that there are more than two thousand of us, even though you’ve seized on the complaints of just one. I can answer “yes” to each of those questions which makes me feel like I have something pretty close to an informed perspective. Would you answer “no” to those questions #29? I’m wagering you would, which makes me wonder, who really has the more limited perspective? You’ll no doubt reply that my opinions are suspect because I don’t know the fine details about Ryan’s termination. It’s true – I wasn’t there, don’t know they guy, don’t work at that store. But that’s not really the point, is it? The discussion taking place is bigger and broader than one person’s termination. That discussion implicates the entire management team and the culture of New Seasons in some anti-worker, union-busting, corporate conspiracy of greed and indifference. It’s a discussion that makes me out to be a victim. It makes my job out to be an exploitation. It characterizes as immoral more people than I can count who I know for a fact to be honest and kind and hard working and who have never treated me with anything but respect. If you’re so concerned about the issues at hand #29, walk in my shoes. Do my job. Work for the people I work for. Tell me what I’m supposed to think. Show me how limited my perspective is, you presumptuous, arrogant armchair activist.
@32, Yeah, a lot of people around here will pull out the “sanctimonious” word, or words like it, whenever anyone says something they have any problem with. Do you really think that word applies in any way to what I said?
And yes, all your praise about NSM is coming from your own limited experience as an individual. I don’t have the time or inclination to answer your barrage of questions, but I never claimed to have a less limited perspective than yours. I’m not the one who came on here trying to set the record straight about a company while offering no insight about the specific grievances at issue.
Nowhere is their any evidence that anyone was fired for organizing. Moral of the story: if you are going to continually challenge you boss in employee meetings, you better not steal food from the store afterwards. And the girlfriend to the hospital excuse is one of the oldest ones in the book – surprised how that made it into this piece as some sort of knock on the store. Glad I don’t own a business in Mercury territory.
I wonder how many unionized grocery stores offer a 20% discount on everything in the store, better healthcare than I get through my middle-management “green” job, flexible management, upward mobility and profit sharing? Just curious.
I worked at New Seasons for awhile. as far as Lisa Sedlers’ quote,
“We’ve had that culture of speaking up since the very first day of New Seasons.”
Sure, they tell you to speak up. And they have the certain categories in which you are allowed to speak up. As long as it will save them money or make them more money. If you speak up against the company “culture” or policies, you are considered a problem. Your comments are filed and brought up in every review you ever have. They ask you to speak up and when you actually have legitimate concerns, they target you and have you removed for offenses other employees are committing all around you. I personally witnessed managers eating food or getting “samples” of the same product out of a case multiple times a week. If you speak out, you’re quickly ushered out the door. I’m glad someone is finally standing up. New Seasons is supposed to be different.
As a four year New Seasons employee with 21 years of grocery experience in four different stores, I would like to add my perspective.
New Seasons offers a way better deal than what the unionized stores do and the working conditions are much better. New Seasons offers a better pay scale. Union store employees who work less than 80 hours a month receive no health care benefits while New Seasons pays 50% for employees who work just one shift a week and 80% for employees who work 20 hours per week. New Seasons covers domestic partners and even the children of domestic partners while at the union stores domestic partners aren’t covered. Sick leave policy is more generous at New Seasons. New Seasons employees get five sick days per year, but the key point is that an employee can miss one day and claim a sick day. The union stores don’t pay sick time until the third day an employee is out and then the employee has to have a doctor’s excuse and the store can make the employee go to a doctor of the store’s choosing. Vacation policy is more generous at New Seasons. The first seven years is the same as the union stores, but New Seasons offers four weeks paid vacation after seven years while the union stores offer four weeks after twelve years. New Seasons offers profit sharing. I’ve never heard of a unionized store that does so. New Seasons offers employees a 20% discount. The union store I worked at offered a 5% discount, but at least they didn’t limit it as Safeway does with their policy. Safeway employees get 5% off on Safeway brand merchandise only. The 5% discount policy tells you a lot about how they feel about their employees. It makes sense to give employees a good discount. It’s an inexpensive benefit. When an employee receives a dollar in wages, it costs the store more than that because they have to pay matching FICA taxes, unemployment, workman’s comp., and TriMet tax. Then the employee has to pay taxes on the dollar. It ends up costing the store about two dollars for every one dollar that makes it into the employee’s pocket. With a discount it costs the store maybe sixty-five cents to put a dollar in the employees pocket. It’s stupid not to give employees a generous discount, but they don’t do it because they don’t want to give the employees anything. New Seasons also allows employees to take home scratch and dent merchandise for free while at Safeway employees get nothing. What they don’t donate they would rather throw in the dumpster than let their employees have it. If an employee does take something out of a dumpster it’s considered theft. The only thing that is better at the union stores is holiday pay and only slightly. New Seasons pays us double time if we work a holiday, but nothing if we don’t work unless it’s one of the two holidays the store is closed, Christmas and Thanksgiving, in which case we get paid. At the union stores they get paid for the holiday if they don’t work plus time and a half if they work.
As for tardies, at the unionized store where I worked, an employee could or would be written up for being one minute late, depending on who it was. New Seasons doesn’t even count employees late until we’re five minutes late. They also give us a paid day off if we come to work on time (within the five minute window) and don’t miss any days for six months in a row. This is unheard of in the industry. The reason they do it is they want to offer excellent customer service, which is helped by employees having good attendance. Some employees have abused the five minute window and management is trying to crack down on it because it hurts customer service, which is our competitive edge. Some of us start working as soon as we clock in, while there are others who will, if left to their own devices, run to the time clock to punch in, and then leisurely put their coat away, finish their cell phone conversation, use the rest room, and maybe grab a snack before they head to their department. Those who think there’s something “straight up Walmart” about New Seasons are in for a reality check if they go work in a unionized store, let alone WalMart. I know one thing they’ll miss right away is what New Seasons calls “life style scheduling”. Not only is it company policy to not split an employee’s days off, we get a consistent schedule. I know I’m always going to get my same days off and can plan accordingly. Every time I’ve ever requested a different or additional day off it’s been granted immediately. The way the unionized stores do it is that schedules change from week to week. Employees have to be available for any shift. At the store I worked at, for example, work weeks ran from Saturday to Sunday. According to the union contract, schedules were supposed to be posted 72 hours before the start of the work week, but they never posted it until Thursday afternoon. So for any given weekend, I wouldn’t know what my shifts were until Thursday afternoon. I could ask for a certain day off or for an early shift on a particular day, but all they would ever say is “I’ll see what I can do”. I never knew until the schedule was posted whether my request was granted. In general, they acted like they were doing us a big favor if they gave us two days off in a row.
Contrary to what a previous poster suggested, the unionized stores have no trouble getting rid of whomever they want. All it takes is a few written warnings. I’ve seen employees get written up for being one minute late or for inadvertently accepting a fifteen cent vendor coupon on an item we didn’t carry. Then there’s the trick of changing an employees schedule while the employee is on a day off, knowing that the employee will be late so they can issue a warning for that. They can also claim that a customer complained about the employee. They will also terminate employees for a single minor infraction. At a Safeway store where a relative of mine works, a cashier was going on her strictly enforced ten minute break and wanted a candy bar, but there was a long line. Just as many customers do, she left exact change with another cashier. Safeway fired both of them.
I work at Seven Corners but due to schedule differences I worked with Ryan very little. I like the guy and was sorry to see him terminated. I never heard anyone criticize his work ethic and didn’t see anything that would cause me to consider him below average. I also don’t see any evidence that his firing was retaliatory. Management was within its rights to take the action they took for the specific transgression they cited, however minor some may regard it. They also may have suspected, however erroneously might be the case, that he was taking more than tofu and rice. That’s the sort of thing management doesn’t comment on so we’ll never know if that’s the case. Employees sometimes are not aware that something they’re doing might be regarded as suspicious. For example, I used to frequently see employees with backpacks or messenger bags go into the PG (perishable grocery) walk-in to look for free dated merchandise. I would certainly never do that because I think it’s wise to avoid the appearance of possible impropriety. Eventually management made a policy that non-PG personnel were to stay out of the cooler and get the free stuff only after it had been removed to the break room by PG personnel.
I wish Ryan well and would like to see him re-hired. I am, however, not willing to jump to the conclusion that his firing was retaliatory, as some have done. I also don’t think it’s helpful that some individuals are adopting a very adversarial stance toward management, such as comparing New Seasons to WalMart as one person quoted in the article did, and referring to a “fight” with management in flyers that were posted in the employee break room at Seven Corners.
After reading #37 I want a job there myself. I really don’t see the benefit of a union in that situation, the employees sound very well taken care of already.
Wow anonymous poster sounding like a typical articulate manager in those restrictive near minimum wage employment store…
I have my suspicions based on your articulate writing. Either you are missing a bunch of neurons or you are a complete failure in life.
So you are proud to work for 4 years at New Seasons at 10-14 dollars and hour, proud about a minimum wage 401k and the vacation, the tardiness, the sick days.
I think that I live in a different bubble. I, at your age would be embarrassed to be working at a grocery store. That is 25 years in the business at minimum wage or near it?
There is something wrong with you unless you are an imposter. You only know, but I am not buying it. You should work in that type of business only as an emergency situation and very temporary unless, you would never want to own a home, a car, a dignified retirement, pay for your kid’s education, etc.
Think again, because New Seasons, Freddies, Safeway and others are for bottom feeders if you have any dignity left and understand cost of living expenses. The math is not there. It is a factory for losers. Those employers prey either on your ignorance or your stupidity.
I would be sorry to be your kid because probably even your kid could get a better deal at employment in manufacturing or any type of specialized job with some training and certification.
There is no excuse to suck the blood of employees at these places. I defend none of these stores, none! Because the purpose is not only to feed people but also to make sure that you eradicate poverty. As is, it ain’t happening unless you believe in fuzzy math. You need to make at least $80k a year in our economy to barely survive and retain your dignity!
Sarah Mirk and Steven Humphrey are prejudice against African American’s.
A former Mercury employee told me last fall they were in a meeting with the two of them as they made racial remarks about an African American girl who applied there as an inten. The individual said that after the young girl walked out of the interview Humphrey made fun of her pronunciation of the word “ask”, and Mirk remarked that maybe she should try Street Roots. Now that’s journalism!
geyser- I have the belief that if things were really that awful at this store – one that I don’t frequent because of the high cost of their goods- that there would be a union in place already. Especially here in Portland.
We don’t know the details of really why the guy got fired. Sure, getting fired for stealing a little rice and tofu seems excessive, but maybe he was just a pain in the ass to have as an employee and they were looking for an excuse to can him. Maybe not.
All speculation.
Certainly, one shoud champion the cause of the ‘underdog’ whenever possible – but not at the expense of reason.
When New Sleazebags announced its plans to open on Division, Brian Router, co-owner (and husband of Eileen Brady), was asked numerous specific questions about the new outet’s impacts on the surrounding neighborhood. In light of their emphasis on being locally owned, he was also asked about their exit plan (meaning, what their ownership goals were – would they hold onto full membership, sell to their employees, or sell out to a big corporate owner, like he and his partner Stan Amy did to Nature’s. Router’s answer to all these questions was: “None of Your Business!”
Now what we find is that New Sleazebags owners Router, Brady, Amy and et al have dropped their previously announced plans to sell to their employees and are selling out to a mutual fund instead. As we suspected all along, as the chain gets bigger and more corporate, it will get swallowed up by one of the bigger corporate dominators, just as Nature’s was. Before that happens, all those wonderful bennies and the loosey-goosey ambiance that they use to sugarcoat the basically slave-wage jobs they pay will gradually be stripped away. Fending off unionization, as Router and Amy fiercefully did at Nature’s, will allow this transition to go smoothly.
Is it the responsibility of the owner of any buisness to give the company to the employees?
Perhaps the employees can make a better offer – or put in the hard work and risk and start their own company.
New Seasons owners can wish all they like, but in the end it is the employees responsibility to form a union if they feel the situation warrents it.
Geez, as much as I don’t care for the buisness model of New Seasons I feel empathy more with the owners at the moment.
As a long time New Seasons employee I see alot of random stuff all tied to one simple point. Should he have been fired for taking tofu without paying for it? Unions, his activism, the mayor stuff, other employees being fired , targeting, etc…..are all other subjects in my opinion.
Ryan worked for New Seasons for a long time. He was a good employee in all regards. He had never been written up. He became an adult within the Natures then New Seasons culture. To him taking some tofu wasn’t stealing but part of this culture that deemed this kind of stuff OK. He saw managers, employees, and operations people take small samples of various things on the bulk isle daily for years. A very small amount of salted nuts equals a whole lot of tofu in dollars. Sampling food around the store was practiced and still is at every store by staff and employees.
It is clear the human resources people and anyone else that recommended termination as a solution to this tofu incident doesn’t understand the culture that Brian started. They are probably not a good fit for this company. If we want to change the culture and tighten down on VERY loose rules, a better route would have been to council this employee on the subject and warn him that New Seasons now will regard this as stealing. Shit you could have watched him on camera from that point on.
On top of that a memo warning to all staff should be issued stating that eating a small piece of fruit, baking a small amount of bread for your self, eating from the bulk isle, will now be looked at as theft and termination will result.
New Seasons had always been brave enough to admit that they could have handled situations differently and better. Then fix the situation. This is one of those times.
New Seasons has been really great to work for and continues to be. I want it to stay that way.
They don’t have an obligation to sell the company to the employees, but they did say that this is what they were going to do.
They do have a legal obligation to not engage in suppression of unionization efforts. At least when the co-owners were at the helm of Nature’s, they did engage in such suppression, as was reported in the media at the time. Evidence suggests that they are doing this again. If true, why would you sympathize with that?
The few hundreds or thousands of dollars contributed to employees’ enjoying some nibbling of snacks throughout the day is ridiculous peanuts compared to the millions that the shareholders of the company have made on the backs of those employees. Cutting them this itsy-bitsy slack seems the least that they could continue to do. If they really cared about the community and sustainability, they would engage in a far different ownership model than the one they’ve assumed. Where do most of your dollars go when you shop at New Sleazebags?
uh-huh – if New Seasons has wronged you, Ryan and others so dearly, then why don’t you start your own company and then feel free to make all the rules of conduct your own selves?
OK, maybe that is beyond your capabilities. Form a union then. Just be sure to watch your own conduct though, as unions cost both empoyers as well as employees money and mangement is never receptive to the idea of a layer between them and their employees.
Or find another job perhaps.
Many choices – just stop the continual whining. DO SOMETHING.
All of this talk of unionizing begs a simple question: who brought it up and why? It wasn’t mentioned in the article. Nothing there on unionizing activity. So why is it fodder in the commentary here? It’s really irrelevant to the circumstances, unless I suppose you are NSM management and find that this is as good as place as any to start a smear campaign. And, funny that you mention reason frankieb – because you display none of it yourself; propaganda and reason are not of the same ilk.
diatribe – pay closer attention to the article, eh?
“Gaughan, who worked for New Seasons for more than nine years (the last seven in Seven Corners’ bulk aisle), attended a hearing with the National Labor Relations Board last week, arguing that his firing was retaliation for pro-worker activism”
So he speaks up for workers, and you are to equate that with a union push? Read it to yourself again, this time outloud.
With all the pro-union rhetoric in his lengthy bullhorn speech in front of New Seasons as well as the ‘Union Solidarity’ sing-along one does definitely get a union vibe from the protest.
But what do I know, I was only there for the entire speech and subsequent “march” on New Seasons.
Diatribe, there have been other articles on efforts to unionize at New Seasons — quite a few, actually. If you’re really interested, you could do a little research instead of assuming that it’s been made up out of thin air.
More classic frankieb lines coming out of all this, which he clearly knows nothing about (he just shoots from the hip on pretty much every issue):
* If there was a need for a union, there would already be one in place. (naturally! This is Portland, where one can get a union going by snapping one’s fingers.)
* If they want a union, they should quit whining and just start one. (simple as that! why didn’t they think of that in the first place? )
* If they management prevents employees from unionizing, they should break off and start their own company. (Again, so simple it’s brilliant. Who cares that you want to keep your current jobs — Just go out there and start yet another chain of stores. Anyone can do it! This is America, after all!)
* Just DO SOMETHING (frankieb apparently has no clue what they’ve been doing, so therefore they must be doing nothing — ‘cept for whinin’!)
frankieb one-line recaps are great, more please.
Hi geyser – you forgot to mention the part about just getting different work too.
Management cannot prevent a workforce from going union.
I’ve taken part in a unionizing effort too, once upon a time.
My reasons to go to New Seasons, honestly, truly and all that Jazz. Ops, I find none!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, I don’t like people preparing my food because of the possibility of contamination, temperature control, employee hygiene, etc. But that is me, call me weird but there is nothing I hate the most but an upset stomach. About the bread. You can find that bread anywhere for half the price as any other item on that store.
Secondly, the aisles are too close together and I don’t like to bump into people that get annoyed as much as I do doing the same.
Third, the dairy section is no different than Trader Joe’s or any other store with a very few exceptions pretty much.
Fourth, the produce section is so overpriced that is not funny at all. I would rather take a chance and if I had a limited budget I would figure a way to grow my own year round with a greenhouse or something like that. I may even save money after doing the math.
Fifth, the meat, fish and poultry sections are not only extremely overpriced meats with no guarantee whatsoever to their claims. I read somewhere that range chicken was a ripoff, like if they see a sunray once in their lifetime, they are labeled range chicken, LOL. Also, all the sausages have a strong possibility of being contaminated either by their own meats, herbs and human manipulation.
Sixth, about all the other stuff. Give me a break. $6-$8 dollars for a bar of soap? I wonder who are the customers of this store and how big their bank accounts are, or they are what is called an “uppity” trend, fad that will go away once they realize that there is not a single way that you can’t prevent diseases when you live in a city with all the exhaust fumes, water pollution, clothing, cleaning chemicals, plastics, construction materials, etc.
Lastly, the key is to exercise your body and give it the proper nutrition daily but and here is the key, without breaking the bank and doing a serious cost/benefit analysis, then decide with solid proof.
Now back to topic. I truly don’t understand why do you work at a New Seasons and why are you even a customer at New Seasons. Could you imagine stacking shelves all day or handling food? Is that your mission in life? After all the knowledge and tools available to do better in life than punching a clock, being surveyed by video cameras 24/7, talking to idiot customers and some nice, day in and day out. Dealing with the bums asking for your vote on this or another issue at the entrance of the store? Look at the neighborhood hang around that park their butts at the coffee area. What a selected bunch to mingle with huh?
People, you need to do better with your life and make this corporate wolf called New Seasons dressed as a sheep (cross dressing anyone?) go bankrupt. They do not give a crap about you. You will not win at life working for New Seasons or any other grocery store. You ought to be smarter than that. You are an American, be proud of it and act accordingly, do not settle for less.
Now, if you gather know-how, capital and a viable business model to create some sort of cooperative where you the owner/employee is reaping the rewards, I am 100% with you and support you all the way so to break this stale business model of the $10-$14 dollar and hour worker abuse. Some may say? But it is the best around, people at the store are cool and blah blah blah.
Look, most New Season’s customers are “yuppies” with an identity crisis dressed as stale weekend hippies that in reality they have to bend over for their bosses at work if they are lucky to have a job like anybody else. That is the truth. They may smoke some weed once in a while, drink a lot of wine but that does not make you an original by any means. it is time to re-engineer people. To come up with something not seen before like America did in the past.
How in the world could you reconcile paying to a stinking corporation $6-$8 for a bar of soap. Unbelievable. Especially if you have only $2 left to spend the rest of the month.
I think that it is a blessing that this guy lost his job so he wakes up and makes something better of himself. Otherwise, he would have stayed in that loser routine and as soon as he is in his mid forties, they would have got rid off him anyway because statistically, you become a health coverage liability and they can find a cheaper slave ready to drink the New Seasons “kool-aid” so the loser carrousel continues spinning around….
I am astonished at the lack of ambition and self-worth of anybody that chooses to be a near minimum wage employee in a dead end job on the prime of his life.
Seriously! Laugh all you want, but that is what I truly think you caring or not.
Sense:
I can see from your comments that you regard those who are into breeding and consumption as “winners,” unless they arbitrarily fall into the category of “yuppies,” while those who understand that the best things in life are free or inexpensive and don’t share your values are “losers”.
Why would you even bother to comment? You don’t work at New Seasons or shop there. You look down on the employees and customers. Obviously your life as a “winner” isn’t so fulfilling after all.
Why would I take a job where I have to spend so much time arguing with idiots? Nobody is paying me to address your comments and, despite your inflated ego, you’re only one idiot.
This is not just about this one incident. I have worked at NSM for over four years (not at Seven Corners), with over 20 years exp. in the retail biz, often in a management role, with 2 large chain stores and one small independent. When I started at NSM, it still had the feel of a small biz, with a human element and compassion for the needs of its employees. Since Brian Roehter stepped down, things have changed drastically. Ms Sedlar’s assertion that this is a result of the decisions of a few green managers is ridiculous. We have all seen good employees fired for stupid reasons, and we are all expected to keep quiet and mind our own business. I have never had an employer that is so eager to let people go, not even Whole Foods. When I tried to take time off because my brother was in the hospital possibly dying, I was written up and told that if I missed any more work I would be terminated. This is not an uncommon type of occurrence. The employees even have a saying: “The Friendliest Store in Town, Unless You Work Here.”
BTW, Poster #26, it is obvious that you are Lisa Sedlar herself or one of her cronies…your doublespeak is unmistakeable.
I have a real hard time believing #57’s comment. The only way I can imagine that happening is if the employee had already missed a bunch of work and issued dubious excuses. My experience is that they’re very good about letting us take time off. There was even a guy in my department whose wife was about to have a baby, yet he gave no advance notice that he would need some time off because he’s from another culture where they believe it’s inauspicious to count their chickens before they’re hatched, so to speak. He told the manager after the baby was born, which was taken in stride. Another employee had a vacation planned for the same time frame and was not only allowed to still go but they didn’t take him up on his offer to cancel his trip.
I have incontrovertible evidence that New Seasons Market is a front for the reptilian illuminati. It would not be safe for me to share that evidence here.
Minimum wage in Oregon is $8.80.
NSM starts off at $10.
Obviously if you like where you work and it happens to be at NSM this is not the forum for you. In the city of Portland you have to be against your employer and have to be pro-union. That is the gist here.
As many have said and I will add to the white noise – I have worked in the grocery industry for close to 15 years, during which the company I worked for in southern california went on strike for nearly 8 months. When we returned the situation was worse and the union did little to ameliorate the already deteriorating work conditions we thought we were striking to fix. As has been stated above, NSM is unlike most retail establishments. The fact of the matter here is that it had a very lax structure but as more and more people began applying the work force began to strengthen casting an obvious light on workers who are subpar. The benefits at NSM are unprecedented in the retail industry (despite what sense thinks with its limited perspective).
The people who bemoan the ‘changes’ happening at NSM simply lack the ability to see how positive the growth NSM is experiencing has on this city. NSM has over 2000 employees. They have continued to grow (fully understanding that not all growth is good) in the midst of a recession. Again, adding jobs in this economy is a good thing. And I want people to understand that in a culture where people are asked to speak up, it doesn’t mean that everyone’s opinion can be taken and implemented. This place is a cacophony of opinions where everyone thinks their’s is valid. It’s untenable. People need to give NSM credit for what it’s doing right and offer it grace where it’s trying to improve.
Those who are protesting Ryan’s firing would in my opinion have a much better chance of his being reinstated if they would stop impugning management’s motives and making bogus comparisons to WalMart. Putting management on the defensive, especially on such questionable grounds, is not a wise strategy. A much better approach would be to to admit that what Ryan did was wrong, Ryan should apologize if he hasn’t already done so, and we workers should remind management that we are also stakeholders. He did steal and he stole from all of us, however petty some may regard his offense. Management should consider that if the employees are willing to forgive Ryan and welcome him back, perhaps they should reconsider whether their action was too drastic in this case. Speaking for myself, of course, I would like to see Ryan reinstated but will not get behind a movement that adapts an adversarial stance toward management.
Anonymous, your comment does not deserve a response but please step out of your bubble and do some critical thinking for once.
Tinmah
“The benefits at NSM are unprecedented in the retail industry (despite what sense thinks with its limited perspective).”
I have an issue with your statement and here is why. I truly don’t give a crap what the retail industry is like, that is not justification for plain math. It costs to live a dignified life in America at least $80k a year for two if you subscribe to the fact that you live in a developed country, leader of the world in many areas and the richest at that. If you have a family, you ought to be doubling that amount. Some may say, are you nuts? In the grocery industry the margins are not that high. Well, to that my response is and since I have looked at the books of the industry and many others for more than 30 years, I can tell you who is pocketing the money and it is not you by any means, ways and/or shape or form. YOU GET SCREWED WITH CAPITAL LETTERS, BOLD AND UNDERLINED!
You need to pocket in net terms at least a million dollars, plus property and other sources of income to take care of yourself and family for medical emergencies and an above poverty retirement.
When I see especially white people having a tremendous advantage in acquiring knowledge, education and possibly capital above any other minority, at their prime earning potential settling for a $10 dollar an hour job and call it the day for years even perhaps their whole working career, I am astonished and in shock! I don’t care what the economic conditions are, you ought to raise the bar for yourself and family.
Do the math and with true cost of living. Do you live paycheck to paycheck and take pride for benefits that you may never use and if you use them the fine print together with deductibles and limits no to mention exclusions and you have the nerve to brag about it because according to you is the best around? I suggest a prompt lobotomy because you are getting screwed and not even the unions are doing a good job.
Go compare with other developed nations and see how you score. Again you get screwed.
It is conformists like you that have betrayed the founders of this nation by accepting the crumbs without even a fight, in complete submission and servitude. That is unamerican and bordering slavery.
We as citizens of this nation have a responsibility and that is to leave this country better that we found it for our children and their children and with your stance we are losing ground shamelessly. Actually an embarrassment only worthy of the meek.
Shame on you and your own demise.
It is so obvious that is not even funny, it is pathetic. Next time I see you working at this corporation in disguise leeching on the organic fad, I will look at you and feel sorry for you. Very sorry. I would think the meek that couldn’t. That bent over and took the big corporate you know what straight in and instead of screaming in pain, had a smile of pleasure.
You deserve what you get. You aren’t good it seems for anything better! There is better, way better.
Nobody is talking about tons of money, just enough to have a dignified living for you and your family plus some reserves for bad or sick times. The system you slave for won’t allow for that. The minute your misery paycheck is cut off, you are screwed. That is how you keep slaves wanting. That is what we have to fight as Americans. We ought to fight for a future not just barely surviving if that!
Sense, your motivational diatribe lacks a nuanced understanding of anyone persons’ situation.
And you definitely haven’t a clue about how NSM distributes its profits — you presume much with very little knowledge of the actual in this context. But enjoy your high-horse and privileged status as your comments do more to demean the very people you seem so hellbent on ‘liberating’. A classic entitled perspective…
Sorry, one more thing:
sense, define your terms – how do you quantify dignified? I’m under the impression that a dignified life is independent of your wealth…at least that’s what I tell my child.
…8 months ago i began my individual and formal protest against new seasons market, having been totally screwed over by their management. i was pre-“occupy” and didn’t have anyone to stand next to me while i passed out protest materials and i definitely had no “support force”. denis c theriault being the possible exception as he published a blog in response to the “you have to be f-ing kidding me” e-mail that was sent to me by new seasons market in their first of many efforts to silence and squelch me (see “new seasons perfects the art of it’s me not you” july 1: http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…).
i only wish i’d had one articulate and respectful reader reply to that (like the many above par reactions posted here at this story) – instead i was mocked and trash-talked – but that’s another story and in the end it only strengthened my conviction, made me stronger…
i think it is important to point out that i only discovered denis’s write-up 3.5 weeks after it had been posted (googling my own name led me to it) and so for 3 weeks and a few days i hadn’t been able to defend myself or tell my side of the story…
most importantly, realization that my story had been addressed here in the media made it perfectly clear (in hindsight) why mary alison leatart (at new seasons’ corporate offices) had gone to portland.indymedia. org (on or about july 3 or 4) and attempted to do her pr spin and also disparage me. she was told by (possibly the site administrator) what she could do with her pr spin and within a day or two her remark was actually deleted (which only an administrator can do at that site). i saw mary alison’s post almost right away (but not before i’d unknowingly tried to extend an olive branch yet again to new seasons management; this really pissed me off) but had no idea at that time what her post was in response to specifically (denis open-publishing her f-ed-up e-mail to me here at this site).
mary alison’s effort to do her pr spin and to make absolute false statements about me, of course, totally backfired on her and her puppeteers as i only became more determined than ever to tell the truth about what i had been through and to spotlight both her own disingenuousness and new seasons’ fraudulency to our community – and to call them out on all their hypocrisy – including new discrepancies in their ethics code (and alleged “friendliness” and “progressiveness”) brought to me by some sympathetic folks during my public outreach…
what has never been reported here (to the best of my knowledge) is that a week later (july 9), i was deliberately set up by new seasons to try and get me arrested – they had to lie their asses off to do that – but they did eventually succeed (on july 16) and i was first manipulated* by store management (i.e.: SET UP) and almost immediately following that, falsely arrested* by two police officers, for “criminal trespassing” while i was passing out my then “newest flyer” listing many good reasons for the local community to consider boycotting new seasons, from the public sidewalk, outside the seven corners store on se division…
[* on july 16 2011, just moments before police arrived (and i had started to walk away) seven corners store manager miguel rosas-baker had made a point of coming out to “greet me” where i stood and in his usual holier than thou way informed me that he was simply assuring that i stood on “that side” of the PUBLIC sidewalk and since i was in fact within that designated area, i was “OK” to continue… when the police arrived he apparently convinced them that i was not only guilty of trespassing but of allegedly assaulting** an employee the week before (july 9) and i was consequently handcuffed and driven to central precinct, booked and fingerprinted and photographed before being released on my own recognizance at about 5:30 am the next morning after i’d cleared the fbi check…]
[** totally not true: on july 9 – my “friend” and seven corners’ employee had charged out of the store to confront me while i was placing flyers on the windows of parked cars. only then did i come up on the sidewalk (which i was well within my rights to do) from the street and he screamed at me – and pointing to one of my flyers (displaying mary alison’s e-mail, which i’d published, printed and mass-distributed by then) on the telephone pole right next to where we stood, he tried to implore me to understand how much trouble i was causing, for myself included (i had been trespassed from every seven corners store following my complaint to new seasons upper management)… i remained calm and my friend grew more hostile and threw a total hissy fit in my face to which i responded by flicking his baseball cap off with one finger (i did this in amusement, as it was a humorous situation to an extent, at that moment); i did this a second time soon after he replaced his cap and continued his rant, at which point he stared me right in the face – and breaking my heart and blowing my mind all at once – stated coldly and with obvious deliberation “you hit me”.
the cops told me to tell my side of the story to the judge (no surprise there) BUT when they reached my supposed friend and seven corners employee (by phone, in the parking lot, standing next to the police car where i was waiting) to make certain that he actually did wish to press assault charges against me, my friend apparently declined to do so and so those charges henceforth no longer existed. therefore though i had just been informed by these officers that i wasn’t being arrested for trespassing but for assault i suddenly was being arrested for trespassing after all… “because it’s what new seasons wants”…
three days later (july 19) – in my first court appearance – the “criminal trespassing” charge was reduced to a minor violation, a month later (august 16) the case was officially dismissed…]
this is what i went through – as merely a former customer just for trying to tell the truth about new seasons market – by passing out flyers and publishing their very own e-mail, written in their very own words, on the portland indy media site…
i did not spare myself in doing so: i put it all on the line so that nobody could accuse me of leaving any details out…
therefore, i do not personally doubt for a moment, that ryan gaughan may have been set up, and/or that he is being framed, and/or fired for a very different reason than the one supplied by new seasons management!
furthermore…
turning my focus on unionization versus “having it so great already”: why can’t there be both?
all over the place in everything written here in defense of new seasons (mostly by new seasons i am sure) i am reading a lot of implications and inferences that you can’t have it both ways. where is that rule?
why would creating a union take away any current perks? the point of unionizing is to improve/strengthen upon the areas which need attention… and most of all: to ensure that the present “goodness” doesn’t get tossed aside – a valid concern in any circumstance (i assume) but especially as new investors and new management/oversight is being brought into the mix and many workers are witnessing a detrioration/weakening of this goodness…
9-years+ of service – and this is the alleged infraction that they want to charge ryan with – and fire him for? if there were a union; could they still get away with that? maybe, but probably not.
new seasons puppets: believe it when i tell you that management will find a away to stick it to you even if they have to lie and commit fraud to do it. your ass could be next.
[i wrote my whole story out so that new seasons market couldn’t get away so easily with telling their lies about me. a lot of it may seem irrelevant to the matter at hand but when i wrote my blog (on the advice of the portland police dept. no less!) i was trying to be excriciatingly thorough: for what is most relevant, if you are interested, i suggest starting here (it links to every chapter if you wish to read further): http://kristinangelique.blogspot.com/2012/…
this is my boycott new seasons facebook page (it is a public page, you don’t have to be a facebook user): http://www.facebook.com/pages/kristins-boy…
*solidarity and peace*
kristin angelique
*deterioration
*a way to stick it to you
*i had been trespassed from every new seasons store, not just seven corners, following my complaint to upper management
*excruciatingly
(o: hopefully that’s all the needed corrections now :o)
Kristina, I hear you and you have my solidarity. I am boycotting New Seasons and every body I know is doing so as well, because there is something we can’t stand, that is being a phony store that capitalizes in people’s ignorance on where those profits are going. They are charging a premium price for average so called organic stuff that it does not even match price with presentation, true organic and hygiene.
Now to Tinmah
Look, what you defend so much for employees at New Seasons and assuming that you can secure full time employment with those phonies…
The starting wage is $10 per hour, that is $1,600 a month before taxes. Now rent is what for an average family or individual? If you happen to own a home, how about mortgage and property taxes? Get my drift? If you make $14 per hour, it is $2,240 if you are lucky to get 40 hours a week in your schedule. Subtract taxes accordingly.
About the Health Insurance. Have you noticed the age range in New Seasons employees? Why do you think is that? Cost, nothing but cost. The sooner that demographic changes or prices of the benefit go up, bye bye Health Insurance. Profit sharing. Do you know how easy is to cook the books and show no profit to be distributed? In the case of a bonus a 45% tax in the employee’s detriment but a write off for the phony organization? In the case of profit sharing, shall we talk about the distribution percentage formula and who ends up with the short end of the stick?
See, to me dignity is a family wage and opportunity for advancement. Do you get that at New Seasons? Hell, the employees talk about organizing and they get fired. Same as walmart, no difference what so ever. Investors are terrified of unions. The gravy train ends and they have to compromise or the business is gone, finito.
I dare New Seasons to make public their books. They will never do it. Why do you think the clowns that created the phony NSM model sold it? I heard they are going into politics now, it seems that they found a better gray train because it was better to take the money and run. They know that people are wising up and the kool aid is getting extremely rancid now.
The world is waking up and family wage is the future or there will be no business at all left standing. It started with Occupiers, flash mobs, 99% communication via internet and all these phonies will have to rethink the business models to survive. People can’t take it anymore.
When they see no prosperity for them but for the abusers on top, when they see their kids in debt up to the yahoos and not being able to market their useless degrees, the crap will hit the fan, let alone people that do not have degrees and are really suffering and living paycheck to paycheck.
Despite that, there are plenty of people patronizing these phony stores wasting precious dollars that they ought to put them to work instead by creating and developing their own idea so they have a better chance at making it. As is, eternal poverty is their only horizon.
I repeat, you destroy your own self economically by accepting a near minimum wage at the prime earning years of your life. Remember, after 40, you will be let go unless you are the .00001% that makes it to management in these phony business models.
Remember, the cheaper the slave the greater the profit! That is their modus operandi.
@ sense: thank you so much for what you wrote; i really appreciate it.
Years ago they tried to subpoena the financial records of New Seasons in a dispute and the owners at that time threw a fit. So much that they “settled” at a lower requirement as they usually do between good friends(wink, wink) leeching on the same phony organic fad.
http://video.newseasonsmarket.com//pdf/who…
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/16/w…
What big strategy? Why hide the books? Do their very employees get a chance to see their company’s books? Hell no!
See, these secretive methodologies have only one purpose and that is to keep secret what is not fair and right.
If you examine a charts of general ledger accounts of any organization you can determine where every penny is going and its real fiancial status. A little forensic accounting here and there and kaboom, the racket is exposed.
Still, Joe the employee gets screwed over and over.
Snap out of it and leave these type of organizations. Roll the dice. Do something because there is only one certain thing working at New Seasons, you will never thrive. Never! The game is so rigged that the only way to prosperity is an old song that goes like this..
Take this job and shove it I ain’t workin’ here no more
My woman done left and took all the reason I was working for
Ya, better not try and stand in my way
Cause I’m walkin’, out the door
Take this job and shove it I ain’t working here no more
Well, I been working in this factory for now on fifteen years
All this time, I watched my woman drownin’ in a pool of tears
And I’ve seen a lot of good folks die who had a lot of bills to pay
I’d give the shirt right off of my back if I had the guts to say…
The foreman, he’s a regular dog the line boss, he’s a fool
Got a brand new flat top haircut Lord, he thinks he’s cool
One of these days I’m gonna blow my top and that sucker, he’s gonna pay
I can’t wait to see their faces when I get the nerve to say…
Take this job and shove it”
there may or not be anything of essential relevance here – my earlier post speaks most to my own concerns, but here’s some of the stuff i started collecting from internet research as well, some of which does pertain to what – sense – posted earlier: i saved all this in an e-mail to myself on january 23, (there’s lots more i’ve collected in other files too). but before i post that stuff, i think i’ll begin with posting the info on the flyer i was passing out , which somehow freaked new seasons out, enough, to set me up for false arrest…
* * * * * * * * *
my 2nd week of july flyer:
open call to boycott new seasons market
author: kristin angelique
I am collecting and compiling complaints – and important/relevant stories – etc – for the boycott, which I am organizing against New Seasons Market. Also – if you want to help me to organize this boycott – please join hands with me – and please tell all your friends (o: Thankxs!
Here is an ALPHABETICAL list of 9 recurring complaints reported to me so far, by different people, although some people had multiple complaints. I added one more to this list. Please help me add your complaint to this list and/or to confirm the information, which I have gathered here. Thank you very much everybody!
1. New Seasons Market CENSORS ART
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may1820… Google this story for many more links!
2. New Seasons Market tried to screw over a BICYCLIST hit by one of their trucks
http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-1751…
[Note when this announcement is made! http://newseasonsmarket.blogspot.com/]
3. New Seasons Market sells products from CHINA – without any supporting factual information regarding the labor and environmental standards behind these products…
4. New Seasons Market sells COCA COLA products
(Any educated person should get how very – not at all – progressive this is!)
http://killercoke.org/
* 5. New Seasons Market has a shameful personal/business relationship with a FACTORY FARM
= Bad environmental impact and unhappy cows (this is all the reason I need!*)
http://blog.oregonlive.com/environment_imp…
6. New Seasons Market tried to interfere with the FREE SPEECH rights of a former customer who has been protesting against their Seven Corners store. (That person is me – and this includes calling the police on me, 4 times! – and having me falsely arrested, on July 16, 2011!).
[i obviously updated no. 6 since that incident took place, this is not a contradiction, just an update. it should also be noted that my SUPER-FRIENDLY “disclaimer” definitely preceded my eventual, present-day wrath against this CORRUPT business!]
7. New Seasons Market refused to meet with boycott advocates/refuses to oppose Israeli apartheid
http://www.auphr.org/docs/NewSeasonsBrochu… http://www.auphr.org/docs/NewSeasonsBrochu… link to http://www.usacbi.org
8. New Seasons Market sells products manufactured by NESTLE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_b…
9. New Seasons Market has security/personnel, which follow around certain customers, on a regular basis. Persons whom New Seasons Market presumes “fits the profile” of someone likely to SHOPLIFT (i.e. poor, anarchist, etc) – multiple accounts of these experiences reported to me! Has this happened to you or anyone you know? (According to 3 sources – they seem to be in “plainclothes” – as well.)
10. New Seasons Market is NON-UNION
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/10/3…
* PLEASE DON’T BUY PACIFIC VILLAGE MILK OR PACIFIC NATURAL FOODS SOUPS ETC…
http://www.naturalnews.com/026294.html
disclaimer: you don’t have to agree with, or think these are good reasons for, people shopping less at this business – or just as importantly, i think – encouraging this business to live up to their motto: “the friendliest store in town”…
nobody is telling you what to do, or not to do – and again, except for my own animal rights philosophy (which is always strong at all times) and personally experiencing my rights being violated (MANY TIMES, since may 19) by the store’s management – this list is what other people were complaining about, when i was talking to them, between june 28 and july 10. while, i do agree with the validity of these complaints, and acknowledge their own unique worthiness – it is my passion for helping animals – and my code of honor for standing up to bullies – which personally compels me to protest this store, on what i suppose is a larger scale, than i have been since june 28…
i am not dissatisfied with just passing out literature; rather i am not willingly passing up, a seemingly destined chance, to call for a critical mass of people – to speak out about the personal choices we make, when we go to the grocery store, and make profiteers richer – without grasping what goes on behind the scenes, in the making and marketing, of what some people call products – and what those of us refuse to accept animals being labeled as. animals are not products; animals are people, too!
i happen to believe that new seasons market is being unethical – in a multitude of ways – and to answer a good question: why single them out? well – they have been acting like absolute jerks for one thing – and they made this very personal for me, in doing so – but more importantly, in the bigger picture – i see preparation meeting opportunity. i also see, in their vast array of many otherwise, often like-minded customers – what might be a perfect voice against such behaviors – and an even wider audience, which might finally be willing to collectively listen.
most of all, i want to tell people about all these poor cows, living on two poorly characterized factory farms, which are closely affiliated with new seasons market, and how they are not happy cows! at the very least, they are being out-crowded by their own excrement– this is shameful! according to their neighboring farmers: these cows are allegedly not getting much, if any, fresh air and/or quality time outdoors…
i have more to learn – and it might take a series of actions and inquiries for this all to come out – in order to really help these cows… i am just one person (that i know :o) – who is willing to try to make a difference – at this moment that is now. this is where i decided to start; i don’t have a manifesto or a master plan – just an extremely strong feeling – that there are some cows who need our help.
peace, kristin.
“1-star rating
• Pacific Natural Foods – Buys soybeans from China and refused to disclose the name of the organic certifier in China. Refused to respond to questions about the certification of their “organic” soybeans. Cornucopia wonders whether Pacific Natural Foods is engaged in “a marketing gimmick” when it claims its products are “Certified to the Source.” (Certified by who?)” http://www.naturalnews.com/026294.html
O P E N C A L L F O R A L L C O M P L A I N T S & S T O R I E S
(Substantiated reports are best, but don’t be afraid to speak up!)
* * * * * * * * *
so to restate the obvious: what follows might be off-topic and/or irrelevant, but: VIVA! the scrutiny of new seasons market…
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-…
New Seasons Market – “Not entirely the utopia they market”
New Seasons Market Anonymous in Portland, OR: (Current Employee)
Pros
Excellent benefits – first time in years I had health/dental, which kick in after 3 months of full-time work.
401k with nice company matching funds (about 40%) after a period of time.
Some paid sick/vacation leave.
Lots of amazing employees. Historically, they have hired smart, interesting, talented people.
Free food – you’ll never go hungry after those food stamps stop coming.
Progressive clientele.
Cons
New CEO (who formally worked for Whole Foods) is implementing many changes, making NS a little more “mainstream” than the Portlandia hipster stereotype that it has created for itself. They seem to have stopped hiring “eccentric” employees – the hires for the new Beaverton and Vancouver stores are almost all straight-laced retail types with traditional retail experience, some managers have previously worked at Target and Marriott.
So yeah…times are changing at New Seasons. People have been getting fired based on rumors and mistaken jokes. Some high-level managers have taken to closed-door screaming rants at their employees in order to get them to start “thinking differently” about their jobs.
To increase profit, labor is being cut even though sales continue to be strong. This is a bad sign.
Advice to Senior Management
Please provide better training. I know there’s been talk about this, but I’ve yet to see it in action.
Please don’t think that hiring more “retail” oriented people will make this company more profitable. NS is successful because it is a progressive alternative in a sector that is traditionally conservative. Keep the intelligent, interesting people, and stop hiring the boring retail-bots to take their places.
* * * * * * * * *
http://newseasonsmarket.blogspot.com/2008/…
Monday, December 1, 2008
We’re Just Trying To Mind Our Own (Local) Business
By Brian Rohter
You may have heard that New Seasons Market has found ourselves caught in the crossfire of an ongoing legal dispute between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Whole Foods Market. The disagreement has to do with whether or not the Whole Foods merger with Wild Oats should be “allowed to proceed”. Yes, we know that seems like a crazy thing to be fighting about since all the Wild Oats stores that were around here have already been closed or turned into Whole Foods stores, but neither the federal government or Whole Foods asked us for our opinion about that.
You also are probably trying to figure out what this could possibly have to do with us. That’s a great question. Since we’ve been minding our own (local) business and have never expressed an opinion one way or the other about this merger, we were wondering the same thing.
As it turns out, because of their legal dispute with the FTC, Whole Foods has an opportunity to try and force us to give them copies of some of our most confidential financial records – for instance what our sales are, week by week, at each of our stores. They’ve also demanded all of our files that detail our strategic plans, all of our marketing plans and all of our studies about where we are considering opening new stores. You can see the entire subpoena here, and below is a partial list of what they’re trying to get (quoted directly from the subpoena):
3. All documents relating to Whole Food’s acquisition of Wild Oats, including documents discussing the effect of the merger on you.
4. All documents discussing competition with Whole Foods or Wild Oats, including responses by you to a new Whole Foods or Wild Oats store and responses by you to prices, product selection, quality, or services at Whole Foods or Wild Oats stores.
5. All market studies, strategic plans or competition analyses relating to competition in each Geographic Area, including documents discussing market shares.
6. All market studies, strategic plans or competition analyses relating to the sale of natural and organic products, including the sale of natural and organic products in your stores.
7. All documents relating to your plans to increase the shelf space at your stores allocated to natural and organic products, the number of natural and organic products sold in your stores, or the sales of natural or organic products in your stores.
8. All documents discussing your plans to renovate or improve your stores to sell additional natural and organic products or to open stores emphasizing natural and organic products.
9. Provide documents sufficient to show, or in the alternative submit a spread sheet showing: (a) the store name and address of each of your stores separately in each Geographic Area; and (b) for each store provide the total weekly sales for each week since January 1, 2006 to the current date.
I have to believe that any reasonable person would agree that it’s really over the top for Whole Foods to be asking for this information, especially since we have nothing to do with their lawsuit. It takes away the level playing field, creates an unnecessary risk for our business and has the potential to have a negative impact on our network of local growers, ranchers and suppliers. It also could permanently damage the fragile regional food system that we’ve been working to create and, in the end, could reduce options for Portlanders who choose to shop at locally owned stores.
New Seasons Market is a small, locally owned company that competes against large, multi-national chains including Whole Foods. Whole Foods has about 270 stores in cities all over North America and in England. We have 9 stores in the Portland area. Allowing Whole Foods to look through all of our private information about how we operate and what our plans are for the future unfairly adds to their already large size and financial advantage. We’ve been able to build a successful local business being David against their Goliath, and we’re happy to keep doing that, but we do object to having one hand tied behind our back.
Whole Foods says that we should give our information to their lawyers and they claim the lawyers won’t let anyone else in the organization see them. That’s like trusting the fox to guard the henhouse – and we don’t have any faith it’s going to work like that.
I’m sorry to say this, but some of the people at Whole Foods have a history of less than stellar behavior when it comes to competing fairly. There are two obvious examples of this. First, last year, their CEO John Mackey was caught posting derogatory information online about Wild Oats, using a made up screen name. Here’s a New York Times story about that.
Second, during the first round of this law suit last year, the FTC released a bunch of e-mails that some Whole Foods executives had sent over the previous few years. You can find the entire (really lengthy) FTC report here, but just to give you a flavor of it, below are a few excerpts of Whole Foods’ comments in regards to Wild Oats:
“Wild Oats needs to be removed from the playing field…”
“…[m]y goal is simple – I want to crush them and am willing to spend a lot of money in the process.”
“…elimination of a competitor in the marketplace, competition for sites, competition for acquisitions, and operational economies of scale. We become the Microsoft of the natural foods industry.”
Yikes!
This case has been going on for about 18 months. This is the second time Whole Foods has tried to get access to our records. Last year they also filed a motion to try and get our financial records turned over to them; not just to their “outside” lawyers, but to executives who are on the Whole Foods payroll and work in the Whole Foods corporate offices in Austin, Texas. What possible reason do we have to believe they won’t just try and do that again?
When I received this subpoena my immediate reaction was disbelief. I was confident there was no way our legal system would force us to give our private business records to one of our competitors. It looks like I may have been wrong about that. We’re fighting this (and running up whopping legal bills in the process) and here’s a copy of the motion we filed with the Federal Trade Commission. Amazingly, our lawyers tell us that there’s a chance we’ll lose the case and will be required to turn over the information.
Of course I asked what would happen if we refused. The answer was that we could be held in contempt of court and subject to large fines or even jail time. In case anyone is planning on visiting me there, I really love doing the daily Oregonian crossword and also M&M Peanuts. (My wife Eileen doesn’t think this is very funny.)
We’ll keep you posted on this as the situation evolves.
http://bojack.org/2007/02/wild_oats_whole_…
Our weekend speculation about what’s going to happen to the Wild Oats store on NE Fremont, now that Whole Foods is buying out Wild Oats, was fun. But it gets a whole lot more interesting when you consider who owns that building. I’ll give you a hint: It’s not Wild Oats.
At least on the tax records, it’s listed as something called ADG Properties, LLC, which I do believe is owned, at least in part, by Stan Amy, a founder of, and still affiliated with, New Seasons markets! Amy, a former Nature’s bigwig, was a fiercely unhappy camper with the new Wild Oats management when it took over the old Nature’s chain, and there was lots of bad blood when Amy and his partners left Wild Oats and started their own place. He is definitely getting the last laugh now, as the Wild Oats presence is about to be wiped off the Portland map.
It looks as though when Nature’s sold its stores to Wild Oats, Wild Oats didn’t buy the Fremont building — it got only a lease on it. Just as it didn’t get title to the building that housed the old Nature’s (converted to Wild Oats) down on Division. And who owns the Division site? It’s listed as being owned by something called ADG III LLC, with addresses that again point back to Amy.
A commenter on this blog last night theorized that the reason that the Wild Oats store on Division closed was that its lease was up and ADG was demanding a big rent increase. Yikes! Now that’s an interesting tale that I don’t remember hearing before. (I don’t think daily newspapers like to dig too deeply into grocery store wars… for some reason…)
Anyway, what it all boils down to is that on the Fremont property, Whole Foods may, in effect, be dealing with New Seasons. A little internet sleuthing strengthens that impression. At Amy’s address, there’s listed a company called New Villages Group, Ltd., and on New Villages’ website, New Seasons is shown as an “affiliated organization.” Meanwhile, the old Nature’s site at 24th and Fremont — more recently a high-end garden store and the graveyard of several noble restaurant experiments — is listed as being owned by something called ADG II LLC, which corroborates the old Nature’s / new New Seasons real property connection.
If I’ve got this all straight, the plot has thickened considerably. Would Whole Foods want to deal with Amy over the Fremont building, and vice versa? Is there still a lease, and how much longer does it have to run? And if Whole Foods folds its Wild Oats cards there and closes, would New Seasons consider an outpost in that location? It certainly wouldn’t have to worry about relations with the landlord, who from all appearances would be friendly indeed.
Stay tuned. I’m just praying that somebody will sell groceries in that place when this all shakes out.
http://geopolicraticus.wordpress.com/2009/…
http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/sea…
Early results are in for New Seasons Market, the grocery store that former executives of Nature’s Northwest started as a competing business.
After nearly six months of operation, the first New Seasons store, in Southwest Portland’s Raleigh Hills area, is meeting every financial projection its owners set, said Brian Rohter, president and one of three partners that own the company. Rohter said the location would produce positive cash flow (but not net income) in another two months, which he considered early for a retail grocery store.
Rohter declined to reveal sales figures, average margins or other financial measures for the privately owned store. But if expansion efforts reflect performance, than New Seasons indeed is on track. On Aug. 28 New Seasons will open its second location on Southeast Tacoma Street just east of the Sellwood Bridge. The company has already announced a third location, in Northeast Portland’s Concordia neighborhood, and Rohter said the company has signed letters of intent to lease its fourth and fifth sites.
Rapid expansion, of course, has proved to be the downfall of many a retail business, not to mention many internet companies. It indicates, however, that lenders are still going along with the business plan, and Rohter seems to have a stopping point in mind.
“Our goal was always five stores up before the end of 2001,” said Rohter, who formed New Seasons with Stan Amy, the former president of Nature’s, and Chuck Eggert, owner of Tualatin natural foods producer Pacific Foods. “That economy of scale is still very important to me. I think we’ll stop and evaluate right there.”
The partners are aggressive enough to expand beyond five if its economically feasible, he said. But they’ll want to be sure they have a talented management team and strong store sites.
* * * * * * * * *
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/storie…
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/storie…
I would like to respond to #58. I am not anti-management or pro-union in this case. Nobody I know at NSM wants a union. Apparently, like you, the management found my story hard to believe as well, and decided to turn on me during one of the greatest crises of my life. In fact there was an ongoing attendance issue, which stemmed from two things: a refusal to excuse me from any event or emergency whatsoever (while other employees and managers could be excused if they wanted to go to a concert or pretty much any other reason), and the Kronos system which can arbitrarily add violations to your record without you ever knowing about it until it’s too late.. I was being hounded, and this has happened to others. This is in fact a frequent topic of conversation there. The whole issue here is selective enforcement.
Perhaps I gave the incorrect impression that I hate NSM. In fact, I love my job and am very grateful for what NSM has to offer. I don’t dispute their wage scale or any of that. The point is that the attitude of the upper management has for some reason grown increasingly hostile to the folks who work on the sales floor, and to their own department managers. They want us to speak up, but their response is always defend, deny, and if all else fails, change the subject.
I am not posting just to air my personal grievance. Nearly all of the long-term employees and management are openly unhappy about the direction the company is taking. This is especially true for those of us who have a long work history before coming to NSM, who have seen this kind of thing happen before, who were assured from the start that this was a different kind of company. Long-term employees who do not want to advance into management are being targeted because, hey, why should they pay me $14 an hour when they could simply get rid of me and hire someone younger with less experience to do it for $10?
While I really don’t shop at NS, these anti-NSM people seem to me to come across as more than just a little nutty, and make me feel like running to NSM to go shopping right now, and then to vote Brady for Mayor.
I totally support the store, and I plan on shopping there more. This town is holding on to a string of barely-held-together work ethic, and if tofu-stealing hipsters are putting themselves out there as victims, I’m sure we can easily replace them with many of the out-of-work folks in Portland who don’t mind having to clock in, check in, zip up or do their damn job.
I work in a “weird” / offbeat Portland establishment. I have to clock in at 8:39. If I clock in at 8:38, or 8:40, I get a talking-to. A dude got fired here for talking back. Another got fired for showing up late with a damn good excuse. But guess what: we don’t own the company. My boss has every right to fire folks for not following the rules, and when we do follow the rules, we make rent money. It’s called working.
Portland is the most entitled, amateur city on the west coast. SFW if you got fired for stealing tofu or drinking coffee?? This is NOT like Wal-Mart, who illegally shorts their workers, imports cheap sweatshop products and reinforces racist/sexist policies. New Season’s, Whole Foods, Voodoo Pie etc… These may be cool places to work, but they’re cool places to WORK.
I support the firing of this asshole, and I will gladly take up any hours he opened up at the store. I shit before shifts, wear clothes and don’t consume on-the-job food while cleaning a grocery store. That’s disgusting.
I love how so many people are so certain that someone stole because, hey!, they read on the Internet about them getting fired for allegedly doing so. Open and shut case right?
And, bonus, it gives people like #75 here more fodder to rant about “hipsters” and their role in Portland’s decaying moral fiber. Thanks for presuming to explain to us all what it means to have a work ethic.
You “shit before shifts,” and that makes you a worthier employee than someone who needs to go to the restroom during a shift? What the fuck are you talking about?
#73 nailed it. the whole issue here is about selective inforcement of policy. NSM can deny it all to high hell but that’s what’s been going on for a few years now (and not just at the 7 Corners store.) They spend alot of PR money on getting well-to-do social liberals to shop at their stores while giving off the impression that they treat their employees so well. Bullshit. Also, @#75: you need to find your mouth and stop talking out of your ass.
Sense:
You have no clue what you are talking about.
“Years ago they tried to subpoena the financial records of New Seasons in a dispute and the owners at that time threw a fit. So much that they “settled” at a lower requirement as they usually do between good friends(wink, wink) leeching on the same phony organic fad.
What big strategy? Why hide the books? Do their very employees get a chance to see their company’s books? Hell no!
See, these secretive methodologies have only one purpose and that is to keep secret what is not fair and right.” Yes, we do see the books. Everyone sees an overview at the mandatory twice yearly store meetings and details are presented at the annual company meeting, which is not mandatory but any employee may attend and ask questions. Whole Foods wanted to know where we were planning new stores. If you knew the first thing about opening a new store, you would know that it is difficult to find suitable locations and that when a competitor, especially one with lots of money such as Whole Foods, knows what your plans are it puts you at a disadvantage. They also wanted our sales figures for each store and the breakdown of sales between organic and conventional products. Of course you assume without any basis that the fact that New Seasons did not want to divulge this information to a competitor was an effort to hide something that was improper.
“Now, if you gather know-how, capital and a viable business model to create some sort of cooperative where you the owner/employee is reaping the rewards, I am 100% with you and support you all the way”. Well, I worked in one and the pay was lower than New Seasons and there was no medical or dental insurance. Show me a co-op with better pay and benefits than New Seasons and I’ll show you a co-op that relies heavily on volunteer labor to run their store so that their staff members can earn more than what their productivity is worth.
“The starting wage is $10 per hour, that is $1,600 a month before taxes.” That’s the starting wage for a few entry level positions. Most start out at more than that and raises come quickly. I’ll be getting my ninth raise in another two months.
“It costs to live a dignified life in America at least $80k a year for two if you subscribe to the fact that you live in a developed country, leader of the world in many areas and the richest at that. If you have a family, you ought to be doubling that amount.” Nobody is getting rich at New Seasons, but not everyone is as into consumption as you are. $160,000.00 is what you consider the minimum salary for anyone with children to live with any kind of dignity? I don’t know what stratosphere you live in, but here on earth most state governors earn less than that. Apparently you think that New Seasons is some kind of sleazy corporation because we don’t pay dishwashers way more than what Governor Kitzhaber earns, but shopping at co-ops that pay less than New Seasons is something you’re all for.
” Next time I see you working at this corporation in disguise leeching on the organic fad, I will look at you and feel sorry for you. Very sorry. I would think the meek that couldn’t. That bent over and took the big corporate you know what straight in and instead of screaming in pain, had a smile of pleasure.” You are sick.
“I am assuming that you are white, in your mid 30s, knowledgeable, savvy with internet and knowledge acquiring skills. You got a job that in reality ought to be going to a minority worker, a worker that is starting the American dream and needs to sell himself low because he lacks this orr the other skill that you may have” So according to you, minorities should be the ones taking the big corporate you know what you know where because the job isn’t good enough for a white person and you assume an anonymous individual is white because he or she is internet savvy and knowledgeable. That’s a very racist comment on your part, which is not surprising because every comment you made is ignorant. Ignorance and racism go hand in hand.
“How in the world could you reconcile paying to a stinking corporation $6-$8 for a bar of soap. Unbelievable.” New Seasons also sells soap that costs under $1.00 a bar and several between $1.00 and $2.00. The prices are not out of line with the co-ops you defend. I don’t know why you’re so offended that someone might want to buy the detox soap, which is the one soap out of many that costs $8.00 a bar. I understand anyone not wanting to purchase an $8.00 bar of soap. I wouldn’t buy it either, but why are so you so obsessed about the fact that someone else might want to buy it?
posted by “uh huh:”
“The few hundreds or thousands of dollars contributed to employees’ enjoying some nibbling of snacks throughout the day is ridiculous peanuts compared to the millions that the shareholders of the company have made on the backs of those employees”. I suspect you read the recent Willamette Week hit piece on Eileen Brady and jumped to conclusions. Brady and Rohter, as noted in the article, increased their investment in the company over the years. You are not privy to their personal finances and are assuming that all the money they made was from profits generated by New Seasons. Brady has experience as a high tech executive. How do you know they didn’t make some savvy investments in high tech stocks, making a profit which they invested in New Seasons? How do you know they didn’t inherit some money and add it to their investment in New Seasons? You don’t know the details of their finances and are making unwarranted assumptions.
After reading the last few comments, I am astonished at the level of submission and lack of spine some posters working in establishments like these show. Maybe these workers are desperate and falling prey of the powerful jaws of these corporations in charge.
Please educate yourselves about a living wage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_wage
Now, these modern slavery works like this.
You are paid low so you are forced to borrow to make ends meet. Yes, that very bank that gives access to capital to these corporations to set up and enable the “racket” called New Seasons or any other in the same industry. The are “colluded” to maximize profits at your sweat and tears expense. They prey on your desperation not to starve and have a roof over your head for you and your family. Don’t worry, if you wise up and run for the hills, they have plenty waiting in line to take your place in the racket.
About social interactions at the work place. You, somehow become attached at the work place and they become even closer than your family or they become your family eventually by worker love relationships or extra marital affairs. By the fact that you spend more awake hours, that is your prime time generally, you become even more close than to your family due to time exposure and soaking in their daily drama as well. They become your best friends almost.
Now, some poster refers to dissenters as “nuts” because they happen to disagree to the box store model and their derivatives like New Seasons. We humans are able to exercise critical thinking unlike others. If that is a nut job, to be a critical thinker of a situation like this, I would wear the title with pride.
Something is wrong in main and side streets in America. Americans have lost their spine. We got here after a lot of sacrifice if you read history and we are doing a disservice to the ones that gave it all or sacrificed for the well being of employees and their families.
The other thing is that, has anybody done the math of the number of awake hours you spend at home because of your job and economic needs? Does it justify the number of hours you put at work for a misery wage?
Have you ever stopped to think why your mission in life is to become an abused working bee? The racket before was that you would build equity and they retire with some peace of mind economically together with that infamous 401k. Well, recently that has been proven that it is a racket too and as soon as it builds value, they steal it right in front of your face.
Also, have you noticed the pattern that every time they extend these so called “payroll tax cuts for the working poor”, oil prices skyrocket and that tax cut goes directly to the oil companies? Do we see a pattern here or what?
Wise up people, either you are too dumb, numb or you don’t know any better.
I just see the faces of the people that started New Seasons and then sold out. Either it is a face OMG we really screwed up “the organic dream” (racket and fad) or celebrating a masochistic smirk like saying, Oh boy, we sure created a mighty fine mouse trap where the mice can’t get enough of our kool-aid, servers included. On top of that, we sold the mouse trap at a mighty profit and now we live happily ever after at the mice’s expense.
Weeeeeeeeeee, let’s go into politics now. There is where is at. Steal the “other people’s money” and keep on living “our” american dream, not the one the mice think that they got…. Har har har, they even want their lousy job back, har har har.
Sad eh?
Nice try “anonymous” but please, wake up and smell the coffee. Or at least state and substantiate your point because piggybacking on my post with a one liner says nothing as a rebuttal.
Try harder.
Ops, my bad “anonymous poster”, you attempted to give your take on one of my comments, congratulations! So here we go, you said…
“Yes, we do see the books. Everyone sees an overview at the mandatory twice yearly store meetings and details are presented at the annual company meeting, which is not mandatory but any employee may attend and ask questions. Whole Foods wanted to know where we were planning new stores. If you knew the first thing about opening a new store, you would know that it is difficult to find suitable locations and that when a competitor, especially one with lots of money such as Whole Foods, knows what your plans are it puts you at a disadvantage. They also wanted our sales figures for each store and the breakdown of sales between organic and conventional products. Of course you assume without any basis that the fact that New Seasons did not want to divulge this information to a competitor was an effort to hide something that was improper.”
My take is that you are a NSM worker posting as anonymous. Fine, what are you afraid of? That you may lose your $10 dollar an hour embarrassing wage? More power to you. That would be a blessing if you ask me so you really focus on prosperity for your own peace of mind and family, instead of wasting your life as a minimum wager. The only way you could justify such a wage, would be on a temporary basis and do whatever it takes to escape that trap any chance you may have.
But let’s get to the core of your statement. Are you telling me that New Seasons Market allow its employees to see the real books openly and freely. If so, why don’t you post a copy here to make that statement believable. I would love to take a look at them just out of curiosity.
Furthermore, I would like a break down of every dollar taken in by NSM at how is broken down between earnings and expenses and see the break down of labor costs, benefits, etc and what are the real profits and how they are distributed. Honestly, no mickey mouse numbers.
About Whole Foods wanting to know What New Seasons was up to with a subpoena order? Look, there are a million ways in business intelligence information gathering that do not require a court order to know what’s up. Anybody can be bought as long as money is King. Don’t ever under estimate the other guy’s greed.
Lastly, I dare you to “explore” a situation where an employee shows up at these annual company meetings and request information beyond the one pager financial statement they may show on the presentation screen. See the pudding is on the details. You take those numbers and you backtrack them back to a General Ledger Account number and to receipts just like a good auditor/forensic accountant would do. Would any employee have access to that particular tracking? How long do you think that employee would last in that organization.
Why don’t you just admit that is a good racket and end it there?
Now, you talk about the competitors knowing your plans and that they have big money. I say to that, remember, you are a niche market and have your yuppie/hipster stale wannabe kool-aid drinking customer base. Why would they go anywhere else? To save money? Those places are all over already, it makes no difference. You got them, they are your zombies. Look at Whole Foods on Sandy Blvd. The place is not making money, it is just market presence.
Look at the Vancouver store. Across the street from a Freddies. The place is a ghost town. They really screwed that one. They have Freddies, walmart, Chucks, Winco, etc within a 5 mile radius. Different customer base but with limited dollars, people will gravitate to cheaper places for the bulk of their purchases somewhere else and leave NSM for specialty items only. After all, the earned dollar can stretch so long, not more.
Anyways, show me the books and show me one employee (grunt) that has seen the books and has done the due diligence to follow the money trail. I dare you “anonymous”.
#75 +1
#76 Ryan admitted to “Taking a little tofu to supplement my protein intake” at the Ryan Rally, or at least that’s what his megaphone amplified voice was saying. And he said it in a really douchey way to illicit crowd response and approval, like “How dare NSM take issue with Ryan’s protein procurement procedure…corporate greed…rabble-rabble!” *cue solidarity chant*.
Have you ever thought that this employee “Ryan” due to his low wage can’t afford good protein? Who’s fault is it?
See, the more you oppress people the more they will steal from you and eventually, they will burn your place to the ground.
That is why riots happen. That is why internal and external sabotage exists. That is why employee theft occurs.
Nobody wins with this M.O.
Look at exemplary companies like many that exist that pay their employees well. Malcontent is not often the case. Actually, they are proud to work for an organization or another. Look at Apple for instance.
Are you going to tell me that you can’t create a grocery store where employees really thrive?
Bull crapola. It can be done!
Here is the core of why we should not settle for less as Americans. I imagine many of you have read the book by Adam Smith, “The wealth of Nations”. Now, that is an old book but perhaps our country’s economic bible in the majority business schools. These quote comes from the link I provided before about a “living wage”. After you read it, please tell me what do you not understand as a customer of New Seasons or an employee of it or its executives or management. It is clear as water to me. Why have we derailed and as a result wrecking our country by not standing up to economic justice? Why is it? Are we that desperate, that submissive, that ineffective to fight for our rights. Look even at the Catholic take by the Popes of years past commenting on the issues if you are of religious persuasion. Something is wrong people and we have better fix it from the inside out. You are not alone and we outsiders with our little purchasing power left can help as well. Don’t surrender. Don’t give up. You must make a living wage at least, otherwise, who is your master? And you claim to be “free”? Think again… Here is Adam Smith…
“Adam Smith was a supporter of living wages and viewed them as a way to achieve economic growth and equity.[5] In his Wealth of Nations, Smith recognized that rising real wages lead to the “improvement in the circumstances of the lower ranks of people” and are therefore an advantage to society.[6] Growth and a system of liberty were the means by which the laboring poor were able to secure high wages and an acceptable standard of living. This societal advantage is secured through political institutions and government policies. Smith advocated for a system of liberty whereupon the poor were able to secure higher wages and an acceptable standard of living.
“Servants, labourers and workmen of different kinds, make up the far greater part of every great political society. But what improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconvenience to the whole. No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labour as to be themselves tolerably well fed, cloathed and lodged.”
Smith WN, I .viii.36 [7]
Smith advocated that labor should receive an equitable share of what labor produces; According to Smith, this equitable share amount to more than subsistence. Smith equated the interests of labor and the interests of land with overarching societal interests. He reasoned that as wages and rents rise, societal growth will occur thus increasing the quality of life for the greater good.[8]
The greater good for society is achieved through justice. The government should in turn attempt to align the interests of those pursuing profits with the interests of the labor in order to grow the nation’s economy. Smith argued that higher wages lead to higher productivity and overall growth. Based on his writings, one can infer that Smith would support a living wage law to ensure liberty for individuals and stable growth for society.”
I rest my case!
Uh, you’re copying and pasting from Wikipedia and expecting that to convince someone? I think I actually agree with what you’re trying to say, but please. By the way, The Wealth of Nations isn’t really our country’s economic bible. Lots of people (including influential commentators and intellectuals) make assumptions about Smith and throw around the phrase “invisible hand” but haven’t actually read Smith’s book, and they get him fundamentally wrong.
Copy and paste or any resource that maybe available is all good to try to prove a point.
The point is that the existing model that gives a crap about our workers must change. We are all in this together and every one wanting to work must be able to obtain and keep a good job with a living wage, an above job, no “below” that standard ought to be available in our country.
When people get paid well, they thrive, the family unit remains intact most likely, businesses proper and that allows us to help others that need help. A better Country, a better society, an example to other nations.
Somehow we have derailed and falling into the abyss. This dog eat dog, backstabbing, screw you it is all for me or for us MO is destroying our country. Businesses ought to lead by example but greed has gotten in their way.
They have the nerve to fire someone that was eating tofu instead of sitting down with that employee and find out the real source of the problem and develop a policy that for example, it is okay to share product that has not sold or it is close to its expiration date, etc. What do they do with the food that is not purchased?
Why antagonize workers? It is counter productive. It is a big turn off from a customer’s perspective to see their grocery store workers get screwed.
I guess the beauty of a store like this was thinking that the extra money the customers were paying for was going to employee welfare reflected as salary and benefits but they are no different that the other grocers. Yes, they have more tattoos and portray some sort of “imaginary” coolness but they are no different. They have to punch a clock, they have to do the dirty work and they get screwed like the rest. What is new?
What about making them all full time salary workers with true participation on the profits and a “real” involvement in company decisions.
OMG that is too radical, scary. What the investors would say…
Anyway, it seems that Keynes had some second thoughts on his dead bed on his stance against Smith….
http://www.online-literature.com/adam_smit…
Sense:
No, I will not show private information to someone who hates the company, nor would you believe it anyway as you know absolutely nothing about retail economics and are so cynical. You attack the store for both charging too much in your ignorant opinion and not paying workers enough. Your numbers do not pencil out. You know nothing about margins and overhead. Profits are less than one percent. If the owners of New Seasons were primarily interested in profits, first they would have chosen a different business. Second, they would not be distributing 20% of after tax profits to the employees and 10% to local charities.
Organic food is not a “fad”. Conventional agriculture, which relies on chemical fertilizer, has depleted the soil. Look up USDA studies on the nutritional content of food and you will find that the average nutritional content is severely depleted now compared to what it was decades ago. Organic agriculture, especially the sort of local and regional farms that New Seasons supports, is attempting to reverse that trend. Organic agriculture relies on making plants more pest and disease resistant by adding compost, which rebuilds the soil. Your notion that organic food is some kind of scam is based on ignorance and cynicism. If you’re happy eating genetically engineered food that’s been sprayed with insecticide, go ahead. But you’re the one drinking the kool-aid, served up to you with a phony smile by agribusiness. You’ve been so brainwashed by giant corporate agribusiness that you assume that anyone who tries to offer an alternative to their destructive model is carrying out some kind of scam and you impugn their motives based on nothing but your own ignorance and cynicism.
Sense: “They have the nerve to fire someone that was eating tofu instead of sitting down with that employee and find out the real source of the problem and develop a policy that for example, it is okay to share product that has not sold or it is close to its expiration date, etc. What do they do with the food that is not purchased?” Sense, if you actually read my first post, the one after which you suggested I was a “loser” who should be “embarrassed” to work in a grocery store, you would already know the answer to your question. New Seasons allows employees to take home scratch and dent merchandise for free. I am not aware of any other store in the industry that allows this. At Safeway, for example, employees get nothing for free. Everything that isn’t donated goes into the dumpster and if an employee intercepts any dumpster-bound merchandise it’s considered theft. Even at Costco, which treats its work force very well by industry standards, employees are not allowed any free merchandise. Corporations such as Safeway share your cynicism. They figure that if employees are allowed to take home scratch and dent merchandise they’ll create more of it so they can take advantage. New Seasons is willing to take that risk and is the only company in the industry I’m aware of that is.
(o: good sense :o)
#88 i think you are misconstruing the point that sense is trying to make; perhaps i am the one who misunderstands, but this is my take:
new seasons market is exploiting the organic trend by marketing themselves to health conscious yet gullible consumers… i feel this way because i accuse new seasons market of masquerading as organic and sustainability champions and being “progressive” while simultaneously placing an equivalent if not greater percentage of total crap junk food, processed foods, etc making it – obvious to me – that they don’t really give a **** what their customers eat or whose products they endorse as long as they make a profit from it…
as for what “organic” foods they do provide (and gluten-free etc) the mark up on these items is ridiculous, they overcharge on nearly everything in the store, but especially this stuff. partly this is my conclusion based on my own instincts – but with regards to a significant amount of items i’ve refused to purchase there in the past (i don’t wish to shop there ever again and couldn’t if i wanted to) – i had actual knowledge of any number of stores where i could get the same exact item for less (and did)…
for example the gourmet bakery items, often a dollar more for the same exact “marsee baby cakes” than at an upscale store in lake oswego (wizers)! amy’s products are cheaper at safeway!
though i believe that you misunderstood the point sense was getting at, what you say in defense of health food – well duh, of course i agree – so then how do you defend new seasons market selling and profiting from all the crap you rightfully dissed!
and if they really cared about the underdog, why not offer healthy food on a sliding scale because sadly while everyone deserves to eat quality food few people can afford to… per chance to dream, but i’m just saying…
new seasons market – like nearly every other capitalist – imo, cares only about making the most possible money they can get away with, but not every other business pretends to be different.
the main point, i believe, is that new seasons market is super fake, its all image and very little substance.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
this is my “mission statement” from my boycott new seasons market page, which i composed in august (shown in its entirety, but you can disregard whatever you wish to, yet there are i believe relevant and valid points addressing topics here):
New Seasons Market fraudulently slogans themselves to our community as “the friendliest store in town”. Naomi Klein calls this manipulative maneuvering “logo-ing”. I do not think they are sincerely friendly. I think they are masking their capitalistic motives; I think they are jerks . . .
New Seasons Market censors art.
New Seasons Market tried to completely screw over a bicyclist hit by one of their trucks.
New Seasons Market co-founder Chuck Eggert owns, and the markets profit from, 2 factory dairy farms where hundreds of unhappy cows are drowning in their own shit…
[PLEASE DON’T BUY PACIFIC VILLAGE MILK OR PACIFIC NATURAL FOODS SOUPS…]
New Seasons Market refuses to oppose and profits from Israeli apartheid.
New Seasons Market is non-union (word is that they are also anti-union)…
New Seasons Market markets themselves as “progressive” yet sells unsubstantiated products from China, as well as products by Coca Cola and Nestle. They have a butcher shop in each of their stores; this is not friendly! And it makes them even bigger hypocrites for championing themselves as “leaders in sustainability” . . .
New Seasons Market arbitrarily trespassed me and then tried to suppress me when I sought to expose their hypocrisy. Following this I protested against them for being so unfriendly – from a public sidewalk – and they attempted to entrap me while I was distributing protest materials. They violated my free speech rights and are responsible for my false arrest for their dishonest claim that I was guilty of “criminal trespassing.”
[…The court dismissed my case; but that is not the point!]
…New Seasons Market is on PR frenzy overdrive because one of their owners – Eileen Brady – is hoping to maneuver her way into being the next mayor of Portland (though she appears to be totally unqualified!) – by using the facade of New Seasons Market’s “friendliness and progressiveness” (and of course their economic success) as her platform…
My name is Kristin Angelique. New Seasons Market has tried very hard to bully me and scare me away: Yup; they failed.
JUST SAY NO TO NEW SEASONS MARKET
PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR ANY BLATANT CAPITALISTS – OR POSERS – FOR PORTLAND MAYOR!
I will be truly grateful for your hopeful support in boycotting New Seasons Market; or at least telling them why they TOTALLY SUCK!
Insist that New Seasons Market walk their talk; call them out for being the CORRUPT LIARS that they really are…
Please don’t be a sucker for their empty hype!
Consider this: If a business tremendously inflates prices for huge profits, then it’s not any sacrifice to throw a few charitable crumbs around…
In my opinion: New Seasons Market doesn’t “give back” to the community; it’s their RIPPED-OFF customers that do!
Peace,
Kristin
https://www.facebook.com/pages/kristins-bo…
p.s. is there anybody else who is unafraid to use their true identity? for every anonymous – why would anyone take you seriously – if you stand behind what you say why not identify your true self? if you are afraid, why? if it’s an inconvenience to you, why should one assume you have any credibility whatsoever.
i get it that many folks have “screen names” but imo it goes a long way when you are willing to back up your statements by being open about who you are.
Great post #37. I 100% agree with you. I have many friends who work for New Seasons and they say the same thing. New Seasons rocks in our community! Too bad this kid felt it his right to steal and wasn’t taught the correct values from his parents.
As a four year New Seasons employee with 21 years of grocery experience in four different stores, I would like to add my perspective.
New Seasons offers a way better deal than what the unionized stores do and the working conditions are much better. New Seasons offers a better pay scale. Union store employees who work less than 80 hours a month receive no health care benefits while New Seasons pays 50% for employees who work just one shift a week and 80% for employees who work 20 hours per week. New Seasons covers domestic partners and even the children of domestic partners while at the union stores domestic partners aren’t covered. Sick leave policy is more generous at New Seasons. New Seasons employees get five sick days per year, but the key point is that an employee can miss one day and claim a sick day. The union stores don’t pay sick time until the third day an employee is out and then the employee has to have a doctor’s excuse and the store can make the employee go to a doctor of the store’s choosing. Vacation policy is more generous at New Seasons. The first seven years is the same as the union stores, but New Seasons offers four weeks paid vacation after seven years while the union stores offer four weeks after twelve years. New Seasons offers profit sharing. I’ve never heard of a unionized store that does so. New Seasons offers employees a 20% discount. The union store I worked at offered a 5% discount, but at least they didn’t limit it as Safeway does with their policy. Safeway employees get 5% off on Safeway brand merchandise only. The 5% discount policy tells you a lot about how they feel about their employees. It makes sense to give employees a good discount. It’s an inexpensive benefit. When an employee receives a dollar in wages, it costs the store more than that because they have to pay matching FICA taxes, unemployment, workman’s comp., and TriMet tax. Then the employee has to pay taxes on the dollar. It ends up costing the store about two dollars for every one dollar that makes it into the employee’s pocket. With a discount it costs the store maybe sixty-five cents to put a dollar in the employees pocket. It’s stupid not to give employees a generous discount, but they don’t do it because they don’t want to give the employees anything. New Seasons also allows employees to take home scratch and dent merchandise for free while at Safeway employees get nothing. What they don’t donate they would rather throw in the dumpster than let their employees have it. If an employee does take something out of a dumpster it’s considered theft. The only thing that is better at the union stores is holiday pay and only slightly. New Seasons pays us double time if we work a holiday, but nothing if we don’t work unless it’s one of the two holidays the store is closed, Christmas and Thanksgiving, in which case we get paid. At the union stores they get paid for the holiday if they don’t work plus time and a half if they work.
As for tardies, at the unionized store where I worked, an employee could or would be written up for being one minute late, depending on who it was. New Seasons doesn’t even count employees late until we’re five minutes late. They also give us a paid day off if we come to work on time (within the five minute window) and don’t miss any days for six months in a row. This is unheard of in the industry. The reason they do it is they want to offer excellent customer service, which is helped by employees having good attendance. Some employees have abused the five minute window and management is trying to crack down on it because it hurts customer service, which is our competitive edge. Some of us start working as soon as we clock in, while there are others who will, if left to their own devices, run to the time clock to punch in, and then leisurely put their coat away, finish their cell phone conversation, use the rest room, and maybe grab a snack before they head to their department. Those who think there’s something “straight up Walmart” about New Seasons are in for a reality check if they go work in a unionized store, let alone WalMart. I know one thing they’ll miss right away is what New Seasons calls “life style scheduling”. Not only is it company policy to not split an employee’s days off, we get a consistent schedule. I know I’m always going to get my same days off and can plan accordingly. Every time I’ve ever requested a different or additional day off it’s been granted immediately. The way the unionized stores do it is that schedules change from week to week. Employees have to be available for any shift. At the store I worked at, for example, work weeks ran from Saturday to Sunday. According to the union contract, schedules were supposed to be posted 72 hours before the start of the work week, but they never posted it until Thursday afternoon. So for any given weekend, I wouldn’t know what my shifts were until Thursday afternoon. I could ask for a certain day off or for an early shift on a particular day, but all they would ever say is “I’ll see what I can do”. I never knew until the schedule was posted whether my request was granted. In general, they acted like they were doing us a big favor if they gave us two days off in a row.
Contrary to what a previous poster suggested, the unionized stores have no trouble getting rid of whomever they want. All it takes is a few written warnings. I’ve seen employees get written up for being one minute late or for inadvertently accepting a fifteen cent vendor coupon on an item we didn’t carry. Then there’s the trick of changing an employees schedule while the employee is on a day off, knowing that the employee will be late so they can issue a warning for that. They can also claim that a customer complained about the employee. They will also terminate employees for a single minor infraction. At a Safeway store where a relative of mine works, a cashier was going on her strictly enforced ten minute break and wanted a candy bar, but there was a long line. Just as many customers do, she left exact change with another cashier. Safeway fired both of them.
I work at Seven Corners but due to schedule differences I worked with Ryan very little. I like the guy and was sorry to see him terminated. I never heard anyone criticize his work ethic and didn’t see anything that would cause me to consider him below average. I also don’t see any evidence that his firing was retaliatory. Management was within its rights to take the action they took for the specific transgression they cited, however minor some may regard it. They also may have suspected, however erroneously might be the case, that he was taking more than tofu and rice. That’s the sort of thing management doesn’t comment on so we’ll never know if that’s the case. Employees sometimes are not aware that something they’re doing might be regarded as suspicious. For example, I used to frequently see employees with backpacks or messenger bags go into the PG (perishable grocery) walk-in to look for free dated merchandise. I would certainly never do that because I think it’s wise to avoid the appearance of possible impropriety. Eventually management made a policy that non-PG personnel were to stay out of the cooler and get the free stuff only after it had been removed to the break room by PG personnel.
sense:
“Look at exemplary companies like many that exist that pay their employees well. Malcontent is not often the case. Actually, they are proud to work for an organization or another. Look at Apple for instance.” Oh, you mean the Apple that off shored their manufacturing to a country that actually has slave labor.
“Are you going to tell me that you can’t create a grocery store where employees really thrive?
Bull crapola. It can be done!” If your definition of thriving is when dishwashers’ wages exceed what the Oregon governor earns, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Wow anonymous, you must be inebriated by drinking so much Kool-aid. Look, a lot of products in our country are “imported” from somewhere else especially when they are not in season here, so are bulk components to make value added products. Environmental laws in other countries do not exist or they are seldom enforced. The FDA can not check everything, they just rely on was is declared on the shipment papers and an occasional check, resources permitting.
Don’t worry so much about me. I don’t rely on NSM to survive nor to eat or drink. I am pretty much as healthy if not even healthier as the other guy spare any “obsession” about it.
About NSM books. Stop misrepresenting the truth. Unless you are an executive of NSM or you prepare the financial statements, you have no idea about the “real” deal. See, you are not talking to a minimum wager, so stop assuming much. A common practice is something called “on a need to know basis” and you tell the employees only what they need to know.
Your numbers are “imaginary”. How else would you justify opening more stores if the earnings are not there to justify so?
About the profit sharing, 401ks, bonuses, etc. Have you ever read the fine print on a 401k and/or the mutual funds commision earnign schemes? I encourage you to do so. Have you ever validated the numbers shown in a profit/loss statement as a grunt employee? I can’t stop laughing. Do you really understand the tax schemes that go into preparing financial statements for tax purposes and especially when a company is for sale? I could go on and on, but I can’t compete with a kool-aid drinking that thinks that New Seasons Market is better than apple pie at $10 dollars an hour. Laughable!
About scraps, dents and related matters. You often mention “industry” like there are defined rules, customary behaviors, etc. Fine, but I say to that. Re-invent the freaking wheel for God sakes. Yes, I think a minimum wage job ought to be only a temporary job because it insults people’s intelligence to sell their prime time in their of life, for peanuts. Something is wrong with that type of people that even love to be poor or be treated with disrespect by their employers that they can not touch what they themselves produce. They should even take a truck load home and promote it with their neighbors if you ask me, so they come to the store and become customers.
Anyway, let’s review this one more time. A $10-$14 dollar an hour job must not be an end but only a beginning in the American dream path reserved for young workers while they go to school, nothing else. An adult individual must have more ambition than tha,t so our country can lead again, not fall behind like we are today.
Stop drinking the kool-aid anonymous and please, get a lab kit or service and evaluate all the chemicals found in the food, containers, display cases, cleaning products, etc at a NSM store or any other. I guarantee you that most of the Organic claim is lost by contamination and chemicals not declared plus source of origin of the products.
Now, get back to punching your clock and have another kool-aid drink while at it. Oh, I forgot. Since you are so much into the organic fad, I have a question for you….
Is it morally acceptable to sell coffee to include sugary additives to complete the drink so you not only make zombies of your customers, plus add eventual diabetes, get them hooked in the caffeine drug and loot their wallets at the same time forcing them to come for some more while at it, day after day? Have you ever tried to quit caffeine? Don’t you think that coffe at the store has a purpose? Why do I mention this is because you can’t be good at one thing and totally contradictory at another one.
The food and drinks we eat are all chemically polluted, contaminated at their source, their handling, their processing and their transportation, their display, their transportation home and preparing, even storing and reheating. That is a fact anonymous and there is nothing we can do about it. You can give the impression that is all “kosher” but that is just a marketing scheme give and take a few chemicals.
kristin:
It’s amusing that you of all people would ask that question. I know why you were trespassed off New Seasons’ property, which had nothing to do with your “protest”, which only began after the fact. Anyone who reads your flyers, which are full of lies and misrepresentations, can form their own conclusions about your mental state. I don’t want to become the target of your obsession.
Anonymous made me laugh one more time. Laughing is good for your health, keep them coming.
Does the term “living wage”, “family wage” has anything to do with the governor’s wage? Absolutely not, so do not distort the message okay?
America’s minimum wage ought to be a living wage and from then, the sky is the limit based on meritocracy, not nepotism, cronyism, race, religion, etc. or any other way to step on the others just ambition in order to get ahead. Also, it is not right to keep people at minimum or near minimum wage plus borrowing to make ends meet and cover basic necessities. Usury is a despicable Modus Operandi to keep people oppressed and to control them.
The only reason why you love your minimum wage job is because of supply and demand of working stiffs and a market collusion of “the industry” as you refer to it or what it is customary. The minute we have a near 5-6% economic growth rate that minimum wage job that you love so much today would be vacant because you would be “pursuing other interests” as they note when you are fired or you quit.
Let me sweeten this pill up for you with a song, NSM would be left?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvxrYm4nxXY
Sense:
Your comparison of Apple moving its manufacturing off shore with importing food is bogus. Apple could easily keep their manufacturing here and still be profitable. This is unlike importing produce from different climate zones, which is done to extend availability, not to increase profits.
“Is it morally acceptable to sell coffee to include sugary additives to complete the drink so you not only make zombies of your customers, plus add eventual diabetes, get them hooked in the caffeine drug and loot their wallets at the same time forcing them to come for some more while at it, day after day? Have you ever tried to quit caffeine? Don’t you think that coffe at the store has a purpose? ” New Seasons is not the food police. Why don’t you get off your butt and start your own store where you can pay your dishwashers $160,000.00 per year and sell everything for low prices, except for sugar and coffee and anything else that’s for “zombies”. I think you’ve got an excellent chance to sew up the niche market of consumers who are only interested in healthful food as long as they can get it with Monsanto’s finest genetic engineering and sprayed with Dow Chemicals’ pesticides.
OMG anonymous, you keep on keeping on don’t you?
Do you believe in evolution? Do you believe that creatures must adapt to their environment? Do you believe in acid rain for example? Do you believe that everything that surround us affects us in one way or the other for good or for bad? If so, you can run but you can’t hide. Your body in its limited duration on earth will adapt or it will be extinct. Those forces we can’t control in their entirety. Genetic manipulation, salt water in your chicken and blah blah blah has been going on for a long time. The combustion engine and all other emissions are changing us anyway. You can’t hide from the chemicals in your plastic containers or the air, and on and on. It is a losing battle.
The point I was trying to make with Apple was that they pay their employees well and most likely they won’t quit because they are taken care of even with outrageous profits.
The key “anonymous” is how the pie is distributed. That is profits. Where do they go and whether the employees need to borrow to make ends meet at the end of the day. Once they need to borrow, they are caught in the compound interest trap and there only two ways out, bankruptcy or eternal poverty unless they stop drinking the kool-aid and they run the hell away from a below subsistence wage.
Let’s say that for a profit dollar 20% is distributed among the indians and 80% is distributed among the chiefs. Now, what is wrong with that picture? Get my drift.
Now let’s say they chiefs have a good heart and they give the indians 40% and as a “bonus” but wait. That is taxed at 45% or so so you never see the money. Wow, what a racket, you lose every time.
My point is that it is time to re-engineer this racket and make it more fair fro the ones that really do the work. What is wrong with that? Do you like to be poor? To see your kids and look at them in the eyes and tell them, I am sorry because of the lousy wage I have, I can’t send you to college or the capital and time to be an entrepreneur? Do you get my drift of generational poverty pretty much mandated by this business model.
On poster mentioned the “invisible hand” referring to Adam Smith. That is the market forces. Let the market determine wages. Fine and dandy but we have at least to set up a livable starting point don’t you think?
Is $10 and hour a livable starting point? Hell no!
“anonymous”: F U
i previously posted links to everything which is completely truthful with regards to which you refer for several reasons but especially so that nobody could accuse me of withholding information.
i was arbitrarily trespassed for a reason that is off-topic – and i chose not to belabor that fact here – but as to be completely forthcoming i made a note of it in a very previous post and provided a link to the entire story which i spent months writing out.
miguel rosas-baker, a seven corners manager, freely admitted that he didn’t actually need a reason to trespass me. that is not friendly.
on june 23 i met with a new seasons market “customer advocate” regarding the injustices i felt nsm responsible for and most of all to put my side of the story on record and, i had hoped, resolve the situation privately, but this was to no avail… instead as to deter me from the possibility of “seeking to prove my innocence” i was informed that i was trespassed from all locations.
the point for me was not “wah wah wah take me back” but how dare you attempt to F me over when i have done nothing wrong and this led to me choosing to do two things:
1. not to “do something wrong” but to give new seasons an actual worthy reason of trespassing me by pissing them off by actually doing something they could point to: protesting their HYPOCRISY
my protest began by distributing only nsm e-mail which was sent to me. completely presented with their exact words.
2. and by being totally honest with anyone who inquired of me, what had led to my trespassing, regardless of how embarrassing it was for me to do so.
my protest first GREW when new seasons tried to F me over even more, but also out of a community response, and information i uncovered on my own, during my subsequent investigation into new season’s fraudulency and hypocrisy.
…it is already a matter of public record in many places, and i have a new seasons former employee (who was a best friend to me before everything went down) as my primary witness that i had long before the may 19 “trespassing incident” considered publically calling out new seasons, on behalf of slaughtered animals, because it is my belief that they should adopt a different motto if they wish to profit from such exploitation…
nothing you allude to is anything i have hidden here at this article and it is this website which first published that e-mail nsm sent me (aside from me i mean) on july 1, 2011 (by denis c theriault himself)! my story has been told a lot by now, i was trying to stick to topic here, but not by covering anything up: fyi.
and if by “you of all people” you meant to imply why would anyone want to make themselves a target for ridicule, i get your drift but my response to that is that i certainly do not wish to be a target for ridicule but it is the risk that an open and honest person takes when they seek to back up their claims by being truthful about their identity.
i am an artist, filmmaker, musician and i publish a fanzine (this is the short list) i also have friends and family and i put everything on the line by being so open but i have the truth on my side so i have nothing to hide.
it still sucks but that’s how it is.
i am unaware of any mistruth on any flyer i have ever created or disseminated, back up your claim.
additionally, i provided substantiation to every factual claim i made and was careful to state that something was either my opinion or heresay on everything i published.
there should totally be surveillance video of everything that took place at the seven corners store on may 19 2011, if i had been untruthful new seasons could have easily proven it but i was totally truthful and i have never had your management dispute that with me personally.
if i’m leaving anything out feel free to ask me more questions, what have you got to lose as a coward who posts as anonymous.
Kristina
I am on your side and the hell with New Seasons. I truly think that New Seasons is the “same old”, nothing has changed in America’s corporate culture. They just are a bit smarter on their “dressing” to market their idea to dummy consumers. See, in order to compete, they have no other choice to present a facade, the organic one but after you really dig into it, that is just a facade. They must show numbers to back up their claims. They profit on the liberal/progressive movement that this country is embarking on. After all is said and done, they are the same as a Safeway or a walmart. They profit by screwing the consumers and their employees.
I wonder if long term NSM employees realize the impact of a minimum wage in their social security earnings when they retire, that is providing that the extreme right does not do away with the whole system altogether.
My advice to you is to remove the video links you posted because they look kind of weird. You should make a video right from across the street of their store and state your case seriously and to the point. That way you will gain more credibility and the “anonymous” kind won’t be trying to ridicule you.
Anyway, you are not alone in the contempt against New Seasons Market. There are plenty of people around that don’t drink their kool-aid and are a bit wealthier because of it. A dollar not spent in their store is a dollar saved that could be producing earnings instead of ending up in their pockets.
Concerning this ex-employee Ryan, he is making a huge mistake. I know that he has a family to feed and the pressure he must be feeling is probably overwhelming that is why he is losing his dignity with a picture begging for NSM to take him back. Personally, I would rather reinvent myself and give the my middle finger. He is suffering a loss not only of a job but also his daily friends. Time will cure that and he will learn from it. They probably made him an example for other employees. He took the fall. Sometimes that happens. The problem is that he may not even get unemployment and there is where the community, his friends and family ought to help. New Seasons Market won’t hire him back because corporate mandates won’t let this set a precedent or weakness from them. That is how they manage people, that is by acts like this and psychological intimidation towards the rest of the employees. New Seasons is not the employee’s store in corporate land. They are just tools, low cost tools at that.
New Seasons Employees ought to run the hell away from that type of business model and start their own. They already know the suppliers.
They could start their own niche businesses with the acquired knowledge and change the dynamic of grocery stores by creating smaller stores where the commitment from the customers is not just the quality of the food but because it is “employee owned” and managed where the profits go back to the business and the prosperity of their workers.
Oh I forgot Kristine. That letter New Seasons sent you is completely condescending. Read between the lines. They are telling you in a deceitful way a big F U and in writing! Double talk, you know what I mean, don’t you?
The more I hear about this store and their ways the more disgusted I get. Hell will freeze before I go to that place.
Good riddance! Eventually they will go bankrupt anyway. Those prices are not sustainable for the America we have today, unless they go to some rich neighborhood. The scam is out for everyone to see, at least the progressive bunch that is well read and knows better.
What is it about a fucking supermarket that brings out these long-winded lunatics? Guess what, 2 HOMELESS MEN WERE SHOT IN THEIR SLEEP LAST WEEK! Care about that shit. I wish I lived the kind of charmed life that allowed the time to piss and moan about a local employers fucking fruits and vegetables. Now give me a 10,000 word whinefest, and be quick about it!!!!!!!!!!!
Izepres
Maybe you should quit that minimum wage slave labor gig and get smart by moving up the latter so you can afford to bitch and moan about the current state of the country instead of hitting your 12 pack or a bottle of wine and call it the day.
Yes, I care about the people that were shot or are victimized violently. I also consider the millions of people in America today that are economically victimized by no jobs or low wages so they can never get ahead. Have you ever wondered why education is so expensive and not affordable to everybody. Hint, the system can not sustain itself without low wage grunts the way it is designed. Return on investment is mandatory or else. It is so F up that jailing people is a business, a private business contracted out by the states.
People are shot because our society is sick. It is out of control. The crave for drugs, alcohol and violence is so generalized that we have lost our north. Add to that the culture of violence accentuated by war and violent video games that kids and young adult become experts about.
We are sick as a nation dude. Get a clue and my best advice is that to not become a bulls eye for some sick idiot somewhere.
We are going down just like Rome and you have better smell the coffee. Kids are shot at their school regularly now and you wonder why adult or near adult psychos are not doing that on the streets?
Wake up!
I don’t make minimum wage, I work for Amtrak and it pays very well. As far as the drinking is concerned, I have never in my life sat down and had a twelve pack of anything, alcoholic or otherwise. Call me what you want, just dont call me late for dinner.
Look, it was apparent from day one that NSM is shamelessly expensive. However, they were able to succeed by tapping into that ever-popular demographic, “White Folks With Money To Burn.” BOTTOM LINE- It’s just a grocery store. There are plenty of other shopping options for you to choose from if you hate the place so much. Or you can hunt and gather.
As for the living wage issue, NSM pays a good wage and benefits to people that do simple work. Not knocking what they do, but it is simple work. They also promote almost strictly within their own ranks, so it is possible to move up. Mr Gaughan, a long time employee, new he would top out the wage scale. He knew it was either become management or find a better paying job. I will add that he probably should have just gotten a week suspension instead of getting fired.
I do not begrudge your anger. I just think that it would be better directed at something worth being angry about, like the two homeless guys that got shot. No doubt Mr. Gaughan, our newest addition to the unemployed ranks, realizes that maybe he did not have it that bad. I hope his next job has full time hours, sick pay, profit sharing, vacation, health benefits (including holistic) and “lifestyle scheduling,” as well as anything else this snowflake needs to feel even more special. In the meantime he needs to begin to learn to behave like a responsible adult. For instance, quit begging for your old job back via sophomoric attention grabbing and start seeking new employment, for jobless benefits are rarely given to embezzlers.
Embezzler? Thief? Nah – NSM just wanted to get rid of an employee who made too much noise on the grunts’ behalf, and saw his tactics gaining traction in the workplace. They decided to make it personal and in the process showed their true colors.
“Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity.” – Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
As someone not from Portland, this comment thread is freaking hilarious. Oh, Boo-hoo, the CULTURE at our local grocery store is changing. They actually want to make a PROFIT! What do you mean we can’t f- off for half the work day and take free food? How will I afford my brown rice and TOFU!!!??? Oh, what ever is happening to our drizzly psuedo-working class hero paradise? Shaddup you self absorbed hipster pricks!!! Jesus. The rest of the country laughs at your ridiculous whiny nonsense. The CULTURE at your local grocery store!!!! Keep killing me.
well i liked the quote, it was shared on my facebook page by pbs/independent lens and it fit my mood. i admit i never heard of this guy before – britannica speaks of his advocacy for world peace and wikipedia makes me wish i’d given you my own quote. so please don’t attack me for my oversight. all i really want to say is that besides the ease with which i am able to disregard someone who creates a post out of thin air and is unregistered and only appears under this name long enough to taunt me, that such taunts and fears of such taunts will never deter me from speaking my mind and to repeat myself and to quote dr. seuss (or to paraphrase from memory): “say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
Okay, enough of the facade. First, let’s examine “enforcement” of “organic”. How many people in the country are in charge of that?
“The National Organic Program grew from fewer than twelve total employees in 2008 to approximately thirty in 2010. As of April 2011, it operates in three divisions: Standards, Accreditation and International Activities (AIA), and Compliance and Enforcement.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Orga…
Do you really think that you are buying organic food at New Seasons Markets or any other market with that claim? I say you are getting organic food for an outrageous price only based on the honesty of the producer, nothing else because it is not enforced in the country or the world for that matter. How in the world 30 people can cover the whole United States? How? What about internationally when in the off season?
Secondly, About New Seasons Markets and their produce displays. I would like you to go to a produce display and lift the vegetables in there and see what you find. A “planet” of bugs, microbes, bacteria, etc. They are never cleaned up, disinfected especially in around the clock stores. So buyer be aware!
If you are eating those vegetables raw, be careful.
That is the truth people and the same with the other food displays. Hygiene, handling, storage, displays are issues of concern.
I would love to hear from an NSM employee to tell us how often they remove all vegetables and do a serious clean up and sanitize those areas and how often they get checked by an outside agency. The same goes for other stores.
Common sense will tell you to cook your veggies, meats, fish, etc very well so you don’t get sick. Concerning the veggies you would lose most of the gains nutrition wise.
Now, do you know the percentage of male customers on a New Seasons Store? Very low, mostly women, Why is that? Because women are scared shitless with cancer and these marketeers have found their holy grail by preying on women’s fears.
Cancer is a combination of a hell of a lot of factors. You think that you improve your chances with organic veggies but since you live surrounded by pollution and transmitted diseases, you are better saving those dollars you are throwing away at news seasons and invest in a place where you can grow and have 100% or near it control of your food intake if that is worth to you, but do not rely on this scam to feel better because healthier you will be not! You just bite line, sinker and hook like the rest of fad crowd.
Sorry Ryan, But I think that the best thing that happened to you was to not be at New Seasons anymore. You will see down the road that this shake up forced you to aim higher, have more pride and you will learn to never beg for a lousy job back. Your kids are small now and they would be more proud of their dad if he fought for a way better job that a near minimum wage job leading to no where but the same old. Those friends you have or had at New Seasons are not your friends. You will see in time who will give the shirt of their back for you. They are psychologically intimidated by your firing and that is the whole purpose of the exercise. To intimidate and bring the workforce back in line according to corporate mandates.
That is how it works! BE happy that this happened now and not when you are old and nobody would hire you because these pricks really discriminate with age, gender and color. They don’t do it openly but if you look at the average age, gender and color of the New Seasons Market employee demographics, you will understand what I am talking about…
Ohnos is funny.
New Seasons Market wants to make a profit. If you don’t make a profit charging a 1,000% of an item’s cost and dummies buy it, YOU SHOULD NOT BE IN BUSINESS AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!
(o: making a graceful exit is harder than it seems; especially in my case :o)
independent lens replied to me however and i am going to share it here:
Independent Lens | PBS: Kristin Angelique – shared because it encapsulates our ethic here supporting independent filmmakers and diverse voices. As for the bit on Wikipedia – IBM was one of hundreds of US and European corporations that profited during WWII. That citation is one author’s account, and does not (for me) erase the wisdom of this statement.
au revoir, kristin angelique
Furthermore and based on my observation a couple of posts below:
“I would love to hear from an NSM employee to tell us how often they remove all vegetables and do a serious clean up and sanitize those areas and how often they get checked by an outside agency. The same goes for other stores.”
I would like you New Seasons Market employee or the organization for that matter to tell us, what type of chemicals do they use if they ever sanitize 100% their produce and food displays.
Why do I ask this? Because there will be chemical residues left in the display that will leak to the food. Don’t think so? Wanna hire a lab to do the research plus a few sworn testimonies from employees? Ops, forget it, they are scared now. They are afraid of losing their jobs. The corporate boot is stepping on too hard on them already.
OMG, I let one cat out of the bag. There it goes, catch it, catch it or the crap will hit the fan!!!!!!!!!!
😉
There must be some standards.
Any corporation that has 1000+ employees and distant investors is no longer what most people think of as a “local” business. Once a business owner doesn’t know every one of her/his employee’s names, those employees need a union. Period. You have no power, no support, and the playing field will never be level.
New Seasons of today is VERY different than it was 12 years ago. In the brave new store, policy is policy. Rules are rules. Corporations are people. Cameras are everywhere in every store, spying on customers and employees. Employees are liabilities on the balance sheet, not assets, and as such they are expendable.
It’s sad to see what NSM has become (kinda like having voted for Obama). Today, the store is a sham of “the friendliest” store in town. Some of its policies are definitely better than, say, Walmart, for sure, but it will soon go the way of Whole Foods. Elite Green Capitalism, which values profit over people.
Too late for Ryan and other past and present NSM employees who have been dumped or dumped on, but you guys need a union, big time. No one has your back in a dispute with management. A “peer” support program is almost laughable because it does not level the playing field at all. The hierarchy remains, and workers have zero power.
Time for a union! Organize, Organize, Organize!
A friendly reminder that “freedom of speech” doesn’t factor in when it comes to comment threads. This has taken a turn for the crazy, so we’re gonna go ahead and shut this one down.