INDIANAPOLIS — The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a lawsuit against Marsh Supermarkets, Inc., owned by the Boca Raton-based Sun Capital Partners, Inc., and has asked the U.S. District Court in Southern Indiana to stop violating workers’ rights. Specifically, the NLRB has asked the court to order Marsh to stop threatening, intimidating, and coercing its workers to try to discourage them from seeking a union voice on the job; and also to reinstate a former employee who Marsh illegally fired for supporting the union.
If the court issues the injunction, Marsh would have to stop watching over employees participating in union activities; or creating or maintaining rules prohibiting employees from discussing the union on company time; telling employees that union literature would be removed from non-work areas; and threatening employees because of union activity. Marsh would also have to reinstate a former worker.
Federal labor charges were filed against Marsh in January, and also in November of last year. The NLRB’s lawsuit paints a picture of a company whose treatment of its employees consistently crosses the line into illegal and coercive behavior. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of developments that show deteriorating working conditions at Marsh stores since 2006, when the company was purchased by Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a private equity group based in Boca Raton, Florida.
The 1.3 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) is America's neighborhood union representing workers in neighborhood grocery stores across the country. UFCW puts dinner on the table for America's families with members working in meatpacking and food processing.
Source: United Food and Commercial Workers Union