Effort to decertify union is driving a wedge into Janesville-based business

Bottom line is this: A majority of Woodman's employees no longer want to pay for union protection they feel they no longer need!

Sorry I must correct myself, from what I have read there is no 401k only the ESOP and its the local 1473 not local 1444. Sorry for the errors.

Reply to wsk:

Subtantiated or not, thank you for the example. Just why the bitterness and overriding feeling set forth that the union must be punished? One can only suspect that members feel an eagerness to place blame, feel neglected, suspicious, or are just plain angry. I can sense, even on this board, an outlook that the union has failed to protect Woodman's workers from what they see as policies and tactics that are detrimental to their work environment and/or future employment. As a result, we now see the emergence of the blame game. The nature of dialogue that basically pits member vs. member, member vs. union, Woodman's vs. union. These are tried and true union busting tactics.

I would encourage all employees at Wood man's Food Market to evaluate their daily work environment and gather information that will help them make informed decisions. Hastily decertifying the union is much like cutting off your nose just to spite your own face. If decisions are not based in logic, and only on hear-say and anger, regrets are inevitable.

What will the grocery business lanscape look like 5, 10, 15 years from now? What will the labor market look like? Will people be willing to work for less money? Labor costs, health care costs, competition, economic woes, high priced consultants, all will affect business decisions down the road. Employees at Woodman's are used to success. However, people in business know it is day-to-day and there are no guarantees. The future is unforeseen and the way I see it, you must use precaution now to safeguard and protect your own investment.

There was a time and a place for unions. Back in the day when people were forced to work hours on end with no breaks, benefits, overtime and respect. Those days are gone. Woodmans needs to be able to operate there business efficently as possible to stay competitive in a very tough industry like the grocery business. There was a time that unions offered may benefits those days are gone.
1. Health insurance, Woodmans supplies the health insurance for there employees. The local 1444's health insurance plan became insolvent a few years. The union wanted to charge Woodmans over $4.00 per man hour worked to cover the cost of there insolvency. Woodmans went out and get insurance for there employees.

2. Retirement, Woodmans offers an employee stock option plan that allows employees to build up large sums of company stock to be cashed in at the time of retirement. As far as I know there is no ESOP for the union. Woodmans also offers a 401k.

3. Wages, when contracts are negotiated Woodmans only negotiates what it can afford. Like any other business raises should be based upon merit and hard work not a contract.

As you can see the only thing that the union does at Woodmans is collect its dues and gives nothing back to its members. Its time for the members to keep there money in there pockets. Allow Woodmans to run its business in the manner that they have all these years. They have been a good corporte citizen as well as put food on the table of there employees. They pay wages that no other grocery store does anymore. They do so by skimping on the frills that others chains offer, not by a union contract.

If this is what they have to do to keep those sweet low prices, go for it.

mymaro no self esteem problems here. Just call it as I see it.

I cannot give you the exact words on this site because of the language used. I can tell you that it was witnessed by at least eight people and the employee filed a complaint with the NLRB (though I am not sure what the 'charge' was). I have also had union reps refer to us (the employees) as stupid in both English and Spanish. The union and its representatives have not conducted themselves well during this time. For a group that professes to 'be there for its people' it seems to be doing everything it can to agitate and turn us against them.

@ Could we stop with all of the name calling. Aside from not being productive, it's like having the union reps back in our break room. Only the union representatives were calling the employees far worse names than ignorant.

Many will agree that few points are truly productive on this board, most are moot points, as in furthering no real discussion. Would you be so nice as to give us an example of this so called name calling by the union reps in the breakroom? Just to be fair, can anyone give an example of Woodman's management either denigrading, pressuring, forcing shame upon, or otherwise using unfair tactics on employees to force a decision on the future of the union at Woodman's Food Market?

Could we stop with all of the name calling. Aside from not being productive, it's like having the union reps back in our break room. Only the union representatives were calling the employees far worse names than ignorant.

why is that whybesad? you throw that word "ignorant" around pretty loosely. self esteem problems? or does your mommy call you that all the time so you think its common place to refer to someone that way?

mymaro it's obvious you don't have any idea what you are talking about on this issue. It's best you just stay on the sidelines of this argument so, you don't make yourself look ignorant.

Actually I'm self employed and my boss is a real horse's ***. When I asked for a day off last week he told me he'd have to check with his wife. I mean, come on man, what the hell is that?

Thanks for the luck tbs! I'll take it to the bank.

jck-hopelessly trapped? enslaved? preventing you to find another job?it is one thing,not liking to work at woody's.but your work ethic,sounds a little unstable.

JCK, oops my bad. *blushes*

sassy, it's called sarcasm.

JCK, how are they prevented from searching for work elsewhere? I know the doors open from the inside, as I have shopped there many times!

The worst thing Phil Woodman does is enslave all of his workers preventing them from leaving and finding work elsewhere. I thought indentured servitude was illegal but Phil found a way and they are all hopelessly trapped.

Engineer: "No need to worry Woodman's employees. Union or non-union, Phil Woodman will keep trashing the work environment by cutting even more help, chronically mess with and alter your schedule until you're not even sure of your real position, continually make excuses for things that should have an easy fix, install hundreds of cameras to watch your every movement, hold you to rigid checker standards on sub-par equipment, and last but not least make you work harder because your corporate culture is based on FEAR. How nice, doesn't that make you feel better?"

If you don't like it at Woodmans find another job. I am sure he has his reasons for what he does with his business. I work hard in a corporate culture, that is what is expected as an employee of a business. The cameras are for his security, because some cannot be trusted, employees and shoppers. Again, Phil Woodman is a businessman, allowed to run his business as he sees fit, along with following State and Federal rules. He has established a great business and if you don't like your work environment, go somewhere else.

tbs123-I wasn't aware that you had asked me anything. I think part of the problem with the posting is a Janesville vs. Madison thing. You speak of dealing with Janesville while I'm addressing things in Madison. Madison is degree heavy in all areas. You cannot go ten feet in this town and not run into people with college degrees.

A huge "Thank-You "to Phil for the ESOT(notESOP)program WOW!
My concerns about life at Woodman's without the union are the changes the brain trust at the corp office will be sending our way. I hope they remember we are people not numbers and we have families to raise and bills to pay. Running a company like ours has got to be a daunting task and it does require dedicated employees. I believe we have stores full of these dedicated employees and it is really going to suck if and when they violate our dedication and trust.

Engineer.... You sound like you know what's going on there. The posters on this site get threatened with the truth and then they don't know what to say. jrf and wsk never answered my question about what I ever did to them. I say maybe the truth hurts and then they walk away from any opposition... Good luck Woodman employees.

I think if Woodman's was treating it's employees THAT badly, or started to after de-certification of their union representation, there would be a lot of customers that would not shop there. I am also certain that Phil Woodman is fully aware of who shops there. His customers are not only people that live in the neighborhood, but are his employees' families and friends and people in the community who have seen his business grow, literally, from the ground up. Whether he is sympathetic to the family and friends of his employees or not (I cannot speak to that), he KNOWS how his business has grown to where it is today. Only a fool would turn his back on that. I don't think he is a fool.

No need to worry Woodman's employees. Union or non-union, Phil Woodman will keep trashing the work environment by cutting even more help, chronically mess with and alter your schedule until you're not even sure of your real position, continually make excuses for things that should have an easy fix, install hundreds of cameras to watch your every movement, hold you to rigid checker standards on sub-par equipment, and last but not least make you work harder because your corporate culture is based on FEAR. How nice, doesn't that make you feel better?

So what are they going to do with shakey's now?

Appreciate the support www. Actually, I was clarifying for those that are not intellectually challenged and think that we are structured like other businesses. For anybody that is not a Woodman's employee, rest assure, Phil takes excellent care of his people. I am stunned at how much I have in my ESOP account. All I can say is PHIL ROCKS.

wsk-mymaro is a big dummy!!! not 100% owned. you,i,phil,and many others own it.100% of it.phil did us all a favor. sure, phil makes the most $,who cares.he's made 48 emploee's millionaires.

Phil is NOT going to lower wages or cut benefits. The profit sharing has to do with taxes. If the money is not distributed to the employees, then Phil has to pay taxes on it. He would much rather give us the money (and have us pay taxes on it at a lower rate) than pay all of it to the federal government as taxes. And speaking of the profit sharing...the final push to get rid of the union had to do with the union trying to get into our profit sharing.

yeah whybesad. you are so smart you know it all. you must have graduated the eighth grade huh? woodmans isnt 100% employee owned so phil has a reason to lower wages. more money in his pocket. what dont you understand about that?

mymaro FYI woodman's is employee owned they have a profit sharing plan that the employees get. When a store makes a profit the employees receive parts of that profit. That's not part of the union and they have been doing this for years and years. So why would the employee owned stores want to pay themselves less? Farm and Fleet isn't union and they pay the same starting wages as Woodman's does. It's about the market and if you can't get people in the door and keep them for $6 an hour you raise the starting wages. It costs an employer more money to hire a new employee than it does to retain a current employee. So, it's in the best interest of the employer to retain the good current employees and keep them happy. So yes you are the ignorant one.

are you talking local reps? because at our plant representation doesnt seem to ever be a problem. At least not to my knowledge. Nothing is perfect though. I realize there are issues with the union, as with every union. But to think things will be ok there if the union leaves seems a little over optimistic.

mymaro- the union didn't even talk to the employees during or after they were let go. The employees were trying to get hold of the union reps and they didn't bother to try to get back to them. Besides that, you know very little about how Woodmans is run, my spouse is employed there and it is a very good place to work. They have problems, but you show me a place that don't have problems...

Anyone who thinks that Phil Woodman is out for his own personal greed knows nothing!

and to address your reference of the "3 people that got fired", why did they get fired? maybe there was nothing more the union could do. there is only so much the union can do for its people. to expect them to keep everybody from getting fired is ludicrous and that seems to be what you expect. what would have happened to those people without the union? they would have been gone a long time before that more than likely.

shocky52, a little hypocritical arent you? look how you start your post. and did yo bother to read the post prior to the one you are referring to? obviously not. before you criticize look at the whole picture.

mymaro. It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder bigger than your head. 1st of all,if you ran a business and your employees weren't doing the work that was required, you would fire them. The same instance here, the union wasn't doing their job. Where were they when 3 people got fired. They even called the union rep and the rep said "nothing I can Do" and hung up... There is alot more also, and the same response. Many times they wouldn't even call back..The last is why do you have to call people names with vulgar language. Are you that childish????

Very typical of the "more fortunate" taking from the "less fortunate" so the "more fortunate" can be even "MORE fortunate"! I'm surprised anyone pays attention anymore. I know these are VERY trying times, but let’s face facts; I-You-Woodman Employee's-Phil Woodman won't be the final judge on what is fair and equitable. After all the assessments are made and all tallies are counted, we will all see who the TRUE JUDGE will rule for. In the meantime, a good indicator to the Woodman family on whether it is right to reduce an employees wage so that the Woodman family can realize more "good fortune" is how the customer base responds. (I am of the opinion this is a ploy to increase Phil’s bank account at the expense of his employees-If I am wrong and wages go up, and entry level employees come in at the usual rate, I will buy time on Charter and apologize to Phil!!!!) I am really torn because many high school classmates of mine are employees of Woodman’s and have more than 25 years of service invested. For some it is the only job they ever had! I want to see them succeed and hopefully prosper; so I don't know if I want to stop shopping at Woodman’s. The little guy could get hurt in this situation. The other view is to shop elsewhere to show your dissatisfaction with Phil Woodman and his endeavor. For now I am going to do most of my shopping at Aldi (it's Wal-Mart in Western Europe) and get items that Aldi does not carry at Woodman’s. I never used to think about, or wanted to shop at Aldi even though I knew it was the most popular retailer in Europe. When I was forced to shop there because of similar circumstances that are happening at Woodman’s, I found their products to be SUPERIOR to anything available anywhere else. That includes name brand items (some of which are available) If you don't like what you purchased from Aldi, they will give you your money back X2!!!! The prices are the best in a hundred miles radius from Janesville, and in my opinion the quality is the best you can buy! Give Aldi a try for your major needs, and patronize Phil for what you can’t get elsewhere.

whybesad. you are the ignorant one. its called business and phil woodman is a business owner. he can hire cheaper labor to do the same thing as they are doing now. so in all you ignorance do you really think he wont do that?

Something occurred to me ...... if Phil can pay what he does AND have low prices AND make a big profit for himself, HOW MUCH money for goodness sake are the owners of chinamart and all the rest making in profit for themselves?
Its got to be staggering!!!!
In addition to the travesty of making money off of slave labor in other countries.

Let the market dictate the wages. You have to pay more to get better help and Mr. Woodman knows that. To say the wages are going to go down without a union is just ignorant.

Did you all know that the Rockford Woodmans does not have a union, but Phil provides them with the same benefits as his other stores? Maybe the benefit given out are always controlled by Phil, and the union takes credit by saying they obtained them for the employees.
Like I stated before I worked at Woodmans many years ago, and agree there are some middle management issues that need to be resolved.
On the union sucking they had a for a better name head Rep from up in Madison named Bill White AKA (worthless as teets on a boar big).
I called him several times about them nailing me twice for startup fees. The guy would not return my calls for three months. One day I was up in Madison near the office so I went in there to collect my money. I swear it was like he thought he was (Tony Soprano). After that I have never had much taste for unions.

Unions are a business. They are out to make money. The more members the more money. Why can't the Union get Randy's job back? It's that why he has been paying his dues is for some support from them?

There is no place else around where you can go and find 10 different kinds of Ketchup and/or steak sauce. The Variety at Woodman's and the prices are great. No other store compares to them.

The only way Sheridan's threat could be accomplished would be for woodman's to hire laid off gm employees.:)

I point blank ask a union rep what it is that the union has done for me and he couldn't/wouldn't tell me. He kept trying to tell me what they would do for me (future tense) but couldn't tell me what they had done. I can tell you that they have delayed our bonuses and pay raises. They have harassed the employees at work and at home. And they have created a very tense working situation.

What I would like to know, in all seriousness, is anything positive that the union has done for its members that work at Woodman's? I would think that if they had done something positive there would be throngs of people singing their praises here. If there is any good to them, would someone please inform us? And when I say good, leave your pro-union talking points at the door and give some real life at Woodman's examples.

nice t-shirts,turn around, so we can see the bulls-eye target on your back. if you want to go head to head[or toe to toe] with phil,go right ahead.worked out good for randy.NOT. DON'T SPEAK FOR ME THOUGH !!!!!!!!!!!! LIFE AND BENEFITS @ woodys are grand. THANKS PHIL.

These are frustrating times to say the least.Union vs non-union - it's not always a clear cut answer. What I do know is that good jobs are getting more difficult to find. A living wage, health insurance benefits, & pensions are becoming obsolete. If union represented employees can't keep what they have had in the past then what chances does a non-union employee have. It's not a matter of greed, it's a matter of survival. There is more power negotiating as a group rather that standing alone. I wish the best of luck to the Woodman's employees and pray that if the union is decertified, that Mr Woodman doesn't turn his empire into another Wal-mart with low wages and few if any benefits.

These so called union reps are nothing but a bunch of blood suckers--living off the sweat of our backs..now the gravy train is ended(and it is indeed ended..It is time for them to slink back to where ever they came. Maybe the Phil haters ought to go with them if they are not satisfied.!

Nobody ever gets fired for taking a "unscheduled bathroom break". To me it's obvious that there was a pattern of behavior that led up to his dismissal and that was Woodman's chance to fire him.
Sounds like just any other employee who was "testing" how far they can push and ended up getting pushed back. If this happened back in January when there was still a contract and the firing was unjust, why wasn't the union able to help?
It's because either the firing was just and fair or the union is weak. I'm going to say it's both.

I have been a Woodman's employee for 17 years. In all that time I hardly ever saw an Union rep in our store "just to see how we were doing." Now they are all over us! I understand they are just trying to protect their jobs but maybe they should of worried about that long before now. In a Union meeting on Tuesday it was said that they felt Woodman's was harrassing its employees. Yet, Union reps are showing up at employees homes univited! That is harrassment in my opinion! I haven't heard anyone say that a Woodman's rep came to their house. I also wonder why Randy Knox wants his job back at Woodman's if he has so many bad feelings towards the Company.

Hey Jack.. once the union is gone... think you`ll be next?

I come from a union background, but have become an educated consumer on this topic. Consumer you say? Yes - because as a union member, you are essentially paying for a service. What services do they provide? A group of fellow ee's decided to begin the de-cert process. I became very educated on my union, as well as unions in general. Before you decide to keep your union - I recommend you do the same. For instance - how much will you make if you go on strike? How much have you been paying, each week, over the years. Do the two amounts correlate? Most likely - NO! Check out the Tyson situation. What a mess! Their local Pres. went to prison for stealing their money! Nice huh? Check out his great home. Built with the union members money. Great guy, huh? Then - be sure to check out how many Vice Presidents there are in your particular union. Most likely they live or work in PA. It's your responsibility to check these things out. Be sure to find out, not only how many VPs there are, but how much they make a year. Their wages, plus their bonuses and the value of their benefit packages will tick you off! I believe there was a time/place for unions. Low wages,child labor, no labor laws, no worker's comp, etc. But, people! Wake up! We have laws for these things now! Company policies protect the rights of the good ee's and weeds out the leakers. The people that are lazy, have poor work habits, etc. Unions protect these individuals! I'm happy to say, I'm no longer a union supporter. I took it upon myself to take total responsibility for my employment. My employer is great and we have an open-door policy. We have a concern, HR is open to talk. No fear and I can speak for myself. AND - everyone in our plant doesn't know my business!

Quit whining and just VOTE. Not really that hard to figure out.

Randy: Your fifteen minutes is going to be up soon, and now everyone knows why you really got fired. I never once heard Mr. Knox talk about the union until AFTER he was fired. I work at Woody's and people are right Phil hasnt lied to us...yet. Let this be a lesson to any other unions out there, take care of your members and this wont happen to you.

so what's your point jrf??? what if that is Randy's side of the story??? makes perfect sense to me, since there is only Woodman's side when it comes time to defend ypurself. I believe that is the scenario he was fired under, and they( Woodman's) didn't give him a chance to explain anything.

I wonder if this was posted by Randy on February 16. The article was posted on January 25.

Dear Fellow Woodman's Employee Owners:

For weeks now, I have shared with you my belief that for roughly a dollar a day, the "insurance" of keeping the Union (UFCW Local 1473) is a reasonable price to pay to have someone sitting on your side of the table should you need them in any disciplinary action. I even shared this belief with Phil Woodman at one of the "Union Busting Information Meetings". As woodworkerdude recently posted: "NEVER make a mistake".

Well, yesterday (Friday 2/15/08) I took an unscheduled break to use a bathroom (couldn't hold it any longer) and I now find myself in such a predicament. Found out at quitting time Friday. I'm currently suspended from employment after 13+ years of loyalty and won't know my fate until Monday 2/18/08. Needless to say, it's not the fun and productive weekend off that I was looking forward to after working hard for the "Man" and my fellow "employee owners" all week.

I'm not a trouble (or troubled) employee and like working at Woodman's (otherwise would be long gone!) and especially like most of my co-owners(?). You know who you are...

Anyway, regardless of what happens to me on Monday, I'll survive, but I sure am glad that my Union Representative will be by my side as my voice, my support, my strength. You will be too if we stick together through this attack on our collective bargaining rights!

In closing, here are some thoughts worth considering should the union decertification vote happen (some are my own and some should be attributed to other authors unknown to me):

Multi-millionaires don't need job protections, do you?

Many came before us to fight for what we have now. Please don't let it slip away.

Some contract is better than no contract. Don't be swayed, think for yourself.

Now is not the time to bail. Don't bail unless you plan to fail.

Narrow minds should get out of tight places.

And Remember: You are the Union! If you fire our Union, you might as well fire yourself...

I think I read that a majority of the workers want to seperate from the union. So the minority pushes the button on keeping the union. Sheridan needs to (oh too late he's moved on from his role in the union) been working to secure the jobs at GM for his "union brothers"... A lot of "union" people talk negative about non-union companies but how many take advantage of the "Wal-Mart" type companies? When I worked at the Janesville Wal-Mart we were picketed from the electrical union due to the Beloit W/M using non-union electrical workers. That same evening union represenitives from GM came in to purchase the Christmas toys for the Christmas baskets for the community. I'll let you draw your own conclusion about unions supporting other union brothers...

why was my comment removed when others like jvlresident made speculation commment abouts why randy knox was fired

what did I do wrong? since everyone knows everything about everyone else's business?

Also if you had a 6am to 3pm you could attend and the only ones that work those hrs are the one that have been ther for ever and are already to retire with their millions and really don't care.

You all talk about Woodman's wages and how bad it is. There are 48 millionaires that work there. Not bad!

I heard Randy Knox was fired for wasting company time. He was a truck driver for Woodman's. The have GPS on there trucks to help locate trucks for deliveries. His truck was way off route many times. I would have fired him also.

oh I forgot... it was schedule day yesterday, so maybe everyone was too busy trading their hours so they could have a life that they couldn't attend the rally.

yeah.. way to go edith... or they could just get fired on the spot for doing something they believe in. you know there is no contract now, so yes anything goes...

Fishbelly - FYI - There are a lot of non-union businesses out there that pay well and provide excellent benefits. Unions are dying and no longer serve much of a purpose other than to protect the lazy and to hold back the ones with ambition. The unions are trying whatever they can to scare people because that is all they have.

Well maybe the reason there were not as many woodman workers at the rally is because they had to work their hours and were unable to trade with someone. And if they did call in they would get a POINT!!!! and then for some un known reason they would have to work their weekend off if management knew they went and also mabe lose their decresanary bonus!! or even be demoted to a bagger and lose $5.00+ money per hour.

I have no idea why jrf and www are so confrontational with me. What have I ever done to you? I am only stating the facts as I know them. People need to educate themselves and make independent conclusions for themselves. Like I said before, don't blindly follow anyone. Use every means you can to find out what is true and then make up your OWN mind.

Just so you know, rich isn't the end all to happiness. People with money still have the same problems as people without. Happiness comes in many forms and I wish all the workers at Woodman's happiness. I know my own truth, and that is what matters to me. You only live once, and there are no do overs. If working at Woodman's makes you happy, then more power to you. Personally, I chose to seek happiness elsewhere. And I can hold my head up high knowing that I did nothing wrong.

So 950 employees are involved in this family feud. 200+ show up for the rally. You had area lawmakers, members from other unions, union clowns, I mean reps from UFCW 1473 and UAW 95 President/former UAW 95 President/Representative Mike Sheridan there. Say half of the 200 were Woodman's employees (that's being very generous). That means 15% of the employees showed up to support the union. Take a hint union we don't want you. Go focus all your energy on a place that wants you. You are wasting money. You haven't got any dues from us since March. You are losing $400,000 a year. Cut your losses and pack it up.

To Randy: Why don't you tell The Gazette the real reason you were fired? Does this sound right? You took 2 lunch breaks a day, one at McDonalds, 30+ times. Did you know the trucks had GPS or did you forget? The union then hired you to sit in our stores. You had your hearing to get your job back, but the union couldn't get your job back for you.

Jack, you say that all the union and non-union stores get the same wage and when the union gets kicked out all the stores will get their wages reduced. Won't Appleton and LaCrosse still be union? Won't Phil keep our wages the same to make the union appear to be ineffective. You say that is a Woodman's tactic or has the union brainwashed you to think they are the reason everyone gets the same wages?

Mike Sheridan, Representative Sheridan. Nice comment. You want to hurt a business in your district. You had a petition going around GM to show support for Woodman's employees. If 60% of the Woodman's employees don't want the union, why did you present the petition to UFCW 1473? How is that showing support for Woodman's employees? Maybe you should get all the facts before you make such a stupid comment and present a petition to the wrong side. Are you the UAW President still or is Brad Dutcher? If you are, maybe your focus should be on your own union that's out 700+ jobs. What were you thinking when you made that comment?

tbs123-well being dumb and RICH,is better than smart and POOR. You should ask shockey about his esop,before you comment.go ahead ask him.

My father, father-in-law and my husband are employed/retired from jobs represented by a union. Personally, my husband and I think they are out dated. They no longer function as initially intended. They are out for themselves, namely in the form of greed! When Allied automotive supposedly "voted" to have their own wages drecreased 15%, everyone we know voted No and some didn't even receive a ballot. Like I told my husband, it was going to pass no matter what. Why? Because the union would have lost millions! My father and father in law on the other hand, being the generation that they are, are led around by their noses by the union, including voting exactly how they tell them to, talk about sheep! It's sad. I say "good for the employees of Woodmans". I for one, will still be shopping there! My grocery bill would be almost double if I shopped at the likes of Pick N Save or Loglis and Walmart as well as the others have no where near the variety that Woodmans provides. So...this is one Union family that will still shop at Woodmans. How many others out there will too?

I don't know where you get your stats about college educated people working at Woodman's, but you are not correct. Neither the store manager nor assistant manager at Woodman's in Janesville has gone beyond high school. And many of the Department Heads are also only high school graduates. There are a lot of college kids that work there, but most are smart enough to move on once they graduate. A few do stay after they graduate, but only because they don't want to give up the wages and benefits they have grown used to having. Some people don't like change, and so choose to stay where they are. But the people in power at Woodman's are minimally educated. And that goes for those running the Corporate Office as well.

1st of all,,my spouse works at Woodmans and said that it was the best job they had. Good benefits, and retirement plan. 2nd of all, the harrashment came from the union people that were in the store all the time. It's funny, because that was the only time that you saw them. They were never there when you really needed them. 3rd, the only people at Woodmans that are non-union were the manager and ass't manager. All the supervisors and non supervisors were all union. These are all facts. When the employees signed the petition to decerity, it was because they weren't getting any help from the union when they needed them. Management all two of them had nothing to do with it. What is Sherdian thinking about not shopping at Woodman's. What about all the union people shopping at Wal-Mart. I guess you would rather spent twice the amount for groceries at another store then to spent less at Woodmans. I guess you didn't get a good grade in balancing your money very well...Last of all, there are more colleged educated people working at Woodmans, than most other businesses..

Let the union take a vote, and quit the debate.

Maybe this all started because the spanish speaking aliens that Phil caters to (Habla commercials) are looking for work, and Phil wants low cost labor....

PART THREE:

Approximately one month later, these same “operatives” started to present a new petition with the goal of ridding Woodman’s of union representation. If the majority (51%) signed the petition, Woodman’s would no longer recognize the Union. The “operatives” set a tone that if an employee did not sign they were essentially against Woodman’s. Employees were repeatedly encouraged to sign the petition and if they did not agree, were made to feel shame as to why they were against Woodman’s and Phil Woodman (the one who enables them to make that $1 mil+ in deferred compensation). This, and other contributing factors, put internal pressure on the employee to conform or be seen as a less than ideal. Many who were once pro-union crossed over. Some caved from the pressure or bought into the anti-union rhetoric.

I cannot assert here that these so called “operatives” were coached, briefed, paid, or acted solely on their own behalf. One thing is abundantly clear and that is Phil Woodman initiated this process with the hiring of nationally renowned union avoidance expert Fred Grubb. Never forget that Phil Woodman is a business man first and foremost.

PART TWO:

The union then moved to block the vote. Official hearings transpired that involved members of management and non-management testifying about job duties, bonuses, and many other facets of employment. As a result of these hearings, rumors started to emerge that the union was interested in increasing monthly dues (currently approx. $30). Some employees felt the union was only interested in their money and were only now truly representing them. Bitterness about the lack of representation in prior years began to surface. Keep in mind that, prior to the on-going presence of the union representatives, many employees had never interacted with the union on a personal level.

Around the same time as the hearings, Woodman’s upper management started to conduct captive meetings that essentially encouraged employees to vote the union out. Certain employees (weekends only) were told they would see a raise of $30 if Woodman’s went non-union. This was a half-truth as they would see the $30 out of absence of union dues.

PART ONE:

Comparing employment and union representation at Woodman’s vs. General Motors is not interchangeable and must be kept in perspective. Woodman’s is a very successful employee owned company where the “owners” reap the rewards. A full-time stocker/ checker at Woodman's can start at age 18, work 30 years making 30-40k a year, and retire with $1mil + in zero contribution retirement compensation (ESOP). Yes working at Woodman's can be tough, and the work environment does need much improvement, but the opportunity to earn 1mil+ by the age of 48 and reinvest is what keeps people working. Union or non-union, Woodman's will most likely continue to prosper due to the nature of goods sold and the proven ability to offset competition from the likes of Wal-Mart, Pick n’Save, etc.

Now as far as what has led up to this point, let's take a look at the tale of the tape. At some time last year Phil Woodman hired Fred Grubb, an organizational structure expert who specializes in union avoidance. Mr. Grubb then proceeded to conduct one-on-one store level department manager meetings in the name of improving company shortcomings (one can only theorize this was done to gauge union sentiments amongst these employees. The employees that came right out and denounced the union were good candidates to further Mr. Woodman’s and Mr. Grubb’s cause). Sometime early this year, we started seeing the emergence of "operatives" within the stores that were setting the stage for grassroots anti-union efforts. Shortly thereafter a petition was passed that requested signatures of those that wished to vote on the continued recognition of the union. The union started to get wind of what was transpiring and upped their presence on a store level in Madison West/East, Janesville, and Beloit. This direct representation was the first that many employees had ever seen and as a result some were weary of it.

WOW, woodmans has 48 millionaires, now I really know that I am paying too much for groceries there.

Great idea, lets get rid of all the unions. Then we can all be fighting for $5-7/hour jobs with no benifits. That will truely be a great day for Janesville.

sannio, i think employees only own a percentage of woodmans, most is still phil's

Why does an "employee owned" company even have a union? That makes no sense to me.

lynda- Without passing an opinion on your post or the union, anyone thats harassed can surely find a few lawyers willing to help straighten that out real quick.
I'm no real particular fan of lawyers either, but sometimes .......... well, you know.

Saying no to the Union at Woodmans would show the outside business communiaty that janesville can be a business friendly town. Then maybe just maybe we can read about some new investment/jobs comming into town.

tired_of_all_the_lies- thanks for your post.you're dead on.hey kim, where was sue adams last night at the rally? she was a huge factor in this whole mess.

i can see it now. all you people crying about the union will be crying even more if they are de-certified. remember, the grass isnt always greener on the other side.

I find it interesting that the only people that have threatened my job are the union reps. As for the union going under,... I'm certain there are other stores that have 1473 that are watching to see if we succeed in getting rid of them. Hopefully, those stores won't have as difficult a time getting the union to go away.

I would like to put my 2cents worth in by advising"be careful of what you wish for". I worked for a "non union" place for quite a while and they had some pretty silly rules. We were treated more like children (this was in an office setting) than adults. We did not deserve to be treated like this and I'm sad to say it's still going on. It boiled down to how the management felt that day as to how we were treated and there was no one to talk to about it. Many people were harrased and going to management did no good.

tired of all the lies, i really dont think that the UFCW will go under if it loses woodmans. with that said i hope all you folks that are pushing to get the union out of wwodmans realize that if the union leaves and you become just regular employees, chances are you wont have a job. Not to be racist or anything but theyll turn around and hire the mexican people for alot less than you are making now. So good luck if you do vote the union out, youll be looking for employment elsewhere.

Unions are for self preservation. Survival of the organization is much more important than survival of the common working man. Union dues are used on things other than those they "represent".

When writeing a story perhaps you should make sure that the statements are true and accurate. About Thursdays at Palmer Park, Woodmans did not put it on the UNION did. They are doing everything that they can to keep us in the union including; NOT LETTING THE EMPLOYEES VOTE!!! Perhaps because without our money they would go under. As to Randy Knox saying he was fired for being out spoken about keeping the union, FALSE. He was fired because he was caught on his GPS tracking device for stopping some 34 times for his personal needs on company time. Mike Sheridan should think twice about saying he would put a hurt on Woodmans if we ousted the union. After some 700 + workers loose their jobs at the plant and are on unemployment they are going to need too shop where the prices are lowest, and thats WOODMANS. The union in fact does nothing and contributes the same to the workers here. We do not have a pension plan with them. Phil Woodman provides us with an excellent retirement plan. There are 48 millionares working at Woodmans right now, not includeing the ones that have already retired. How many companys that you know of retire so many millionaires? Woodmans also provides us with our insurance, not the union. It is free for us as long as we work. Wouldn't it be safe to say that close to 60% of Woodmans employees wanted to decertify the union theres probably a good reason for it? Maybe someone should talk to employees that could tell you the truth about whats going on, and why the union is not wanted. Don't just listen to the troublemakers who need the union to save their jobs!!

Now Sheridan has something to say, when his Union was working for a contract he was dead silent. Note also what shape his Union is in now. With the membership at a all time low, I doubt he could put much hurt on Woodmans. Plus, I see alot of Local 95'ers shopping at Wal-mart anyways.
Or maybe he his looking for Union that could still be around in a few years.

Just let the employees vote, its as simple as that. It was the employees in Madison that started this, to decertify the union, I think the union is afraid to let them vote.

Sassyone-So Sheridan is threatening a "Prime Time Pizza" move on Woodman's?

Their last contract was the first time they had a raise in 9 years, they got 2%.

I remember when the union got in where my husband works. I asked him what they gave them that the company didn't? He said they had the exact same benefits as what they were already getting. I said so basically you are getting the same things but now you pay the union every month to have them. Yep. Oh and it does benefit the "bad employees" who at one time could have been fired for poor job performance or say they missed more days than days actually worked and now the company can't fire them because they brag how the union protects them from that. I know that some people are fired for unjust reasons but there are alot of these others who don't care and don't have a work ethic and then sit back and laugh because they can get away with it due to the union contract. Those employees make it look bad on all the other employees who actually want to do a good job and earn their money. And no they didn't get more money by becoming union, they got a raise once or twice but mostly they have had signing bonuses of $500 to $1000 for agreeing to the new contract which when you lump it in with a paycheck and pay the extra taxes doesn't add up to much, where as a raise lasts all year....

The union has NOT been in my store in over six years. They could NOT give us as good of health insurance as Woodman's does, so their insurance was discontinued. They botched the retirement accounts and lost money. Now we only deal with profit sharing, which, by the way is doing excellent. Phil is NOT going to reduce our pay or our benefits because it would be detrimental to the company. We are not Wal-mart or GM, so please quit comparing the two. Phil has twelve stores. Wal-mart has 1.9 million associates world-wide. GM lists 284,000 employees world-wide. How do these companies compare to 950 employees at four grocery stores? By the way, the more than five-hundred employees that signed the petition, does not include any of the 'management' that the union takes dues from.

Unions are a thing of the past. They don't stand up for the working folks.
What do the union dues go towards? The big hoopla in Palmer Park?
I think that's about it.

I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your name, Hugh_Jass. I guess I'd like to hear more about why people want to get rid of the union. I hope they remember that when/if it is gone, there will be nothing stopping Woodman's management from lowering the workers wages to something more comparable to that of a Wal-Mart employee. I encourage the workers of Woodmans to seriously consider what other options they have, as Woodman's is an excellent job for many who don't have a college degree.
As for the management, I am not trying to pass judgement on Mr. Woodman, but it makes sense that he'd want to cut costs.

Well said billnewbie and sorry. Unions had a much stronger place in history when working conditions were poor, pay was inadequate and before there were laws to protect workers. Currently, I strongly believe that union demands are a major factor in manufacturing and service jobs leaving this country. I think the Woodman's workers are smart enough think about the effectiveness of their dues money.

Why is the union so afraid of a vote at Woodmans, and where have they been when the union climate was deteriorating?

It's nice to read another piece of unbiased news representing all sides of a situation. Keep up the great work Gazette!

Even a non-farmer like me knows that if you sow seeds on fertile ground, they grow. If Mr. Grubb's “sewn seeds of dissent” have taken root and grown, the union has no one to blame but itself. To suggest that the people that work at Woodman's are easily swayed against their union by a hired consultant is an insult to the people the union claims to care about. The union's confrontational and militant stances are a real problem. Painting horns and a tail on a picture of Phil Woodman does not make him a devil.