Following a walk-out by Foodtown deli workers on June 29, 2020, after employment contract negotiations broke down with employer, PSK Supermarkets, in Mineola, Long Island, a further strike was planned for Thursday, Aug. 27 as hopes of brokering a deal seemed to fade. The planned strike had the potential to impact as many as 67 workers at 11 stores across the metropolitan area.

 

On Friday, Aug. 21, union officials from United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), Local 342, who represent deli workers, were seen handing out flyers outside the Foodtown store at 283 East 204th Street in Norwood, as they explained to customers why an imminent strike was a real possibility, if a deal was not reached with Noah and Dan Katz, the owners of PSK.

 

Denis Henry, union representative of Local 342, said, “We’re in the process of negotiating a contract. We have negotiations [planned] on the 26th so far this month [August], but we don’t know what’s going to come about from that.”

 

Henry added, “But if we don’t get what we want, we’re going to go on strike the following day, the 27th.” He said that workers in the supermarket’s deli department have been working without a contract for the past seven years, though other Local 342 officials said it’s been more like four years.

 

On Friday, Aug. 21, Henry said that cashiers, as well as workers who stock food on the store shelves, would be walking off the job. However, this statement could not be confirmed with other officials from Local 342 or with officials from the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU), Local 338, who signed a five-year contract with PSK Supermarkets in May.

 

Strike action is not the only controversy surrounding the store. A longtime customer of the 204^th Street store who did not want to be identified, complained that the store’s deli department has changed in recent months, saying, “The meat comes in black packages. It’s nasty.” The customer added that sell-by dates are no longer indicated on meat sold at the deli counter. The same customer said he told a store worker, “If I get food poisoning, I’m going to sue the [expletive].”

 

Asked about the recent change to the deli department’s meat products, Henry said that deli workers informed him that the store now receives pre-packaged meat from suppliers based far away from the Bronx whereas before, the meat was coming from more local distributors.

 

“So, they’re getting the meat from Pennsylvania, and God knows where they’re getting it from,” said Henry. “So, in the process of that meat getting here, it takes seven days, and there’s no dates on it, so they put the meat in the freezer, and they bring it back out, and put it in the meat cage [on the deli counter].” He said it was then repackaged for customers.

Norwood News noted that the deli counter at the 204^th Street store appears less busy than it has been in the past.

 

“You don’t know what you’re getting,” Henry said, adding that the recent practice of repackaging the meat for customers began before Foodtown deli workers walked off the job in late June.

 

Henry added, “If it doesn’t sell in three or four days, they bring it back downstairs, they grind it with other meats, and they sell it as chop meat.”

 

On Monday, Aug. 24, when asked about the workers’ contract negotiations, Alan, a manager at the Norwood Foodtown store, denied there was any contract dispute with store workers. However, when asked about the allegations regarding the new deli department practices, he said, “I can’t say anything.”

 

During the one-day walkout on June 29, Millagros, a Local 342 representative, said, “We’ve been without a contract for four years now,” referring to the deli counter workers. “They don’t want to give us any wage increases. They want to reduce our medical benefits.” Referring to the risk of contracting the coronavirus, she added, “They refuse to give us hazard pay, and we come out every day and we risk our lives. All we’re asking for is a fair contract.”

 

When earlier negotiations took place in June, Millagros said that PSK had not been negotiating in good faith and that a moderator had to be brought in.

 

When asked about the 5-year contract signed in May between PSK and RWDSU, Millagros called it, “lousy.” She added, “They got a 15 cent per hour increase; that’s how much they got.”

 

On the day of the strike by deli workers in June, which was also supported by their union, Norwood News asked who was serving at the deli counter inside the store, given it was open that day yet all the deli workers were outside on the picket line. Millagros replied, “We don’t know because we’re not inside the store.” A stroll through the store on the day in question found nobody behind the deli counter.

 

PSK Supermarkets are believed to own 11 supermarkets in the Tri-State area, employing sixty-seven deli workers. Six are employed at the Norwood location. The number of total PSK workers is unknown.

 

The modernized Foodtown on East 204th Street was rebuilt from scratch after it burned down during a five-alarm blaze that hit the block on Dec. 21, 2009. The market expanded and reopened in early 2011. Since COVID hit, workers say the company put up plexiglass to protect cashiers and customers and it also provides workers with free vitamins.

 

On Monday, Aug. 24, when Lisa O’Leary, secretary / treasurer at Local 342, was asked if members of RWDSU, which represents the non-deli counter store workers, would join her union members in a possible strike on Aug. 27, she said, “I don’t know what would happen there. You’d have to ask their union. I’m not saying it’s not true, but of course I don’t talk to the cashiers. But, it’s very possible.”

 

Repeated attempts were made to reach PSK Supermarkets for comment. Norwood News also reached out more than once to contact Noah Katz but did not receive a response.

 

On Aug. 27, there appeared to be no visible sign of a strike outside the store, according to a report by one local business with a clear view of the storefront. Attempts by Norwood News to reach union representatives for an update on the situation went unanswered as of the date of publication. When contacted by Norwood News to ask if the planned strike went ahead on Aug. 27 or if a settlement had been reached, a representative from Foodtown answered the call and said, “I’m not saying anything.”