Group pressures Giant Eagle on pay

Contentious contract negotiations are expected

Ahead of contract negotiations between Giant Eagle and its union workers, a report released on Wednesday from a left-leaning research organization seeks to pressure the O’Hara-based grocer to raise wages.

The Keystone Research Center, a think tank based in Harrisburg, wrote in its 45-page report that the 80-year-old family-owned company “spearheaded the transformation of jobs from middle-class to poverty-wage” and blamed the company’s “mounting interference with workers’ rights to organize a union in facilities without union representation.”

A Giant Eagle spokesman said company officials were first made aware of the report on Wednesday.

“We are actively reviewing its content to determine the accuracy of the numerous claims made within it, and look forward to

sharing our thoughts,” spokesman Dick Roberts said in a written statement.

“Our focus remains on valuing each and every individual who works in our stores, and we will continue to work diligently to maintain the strong relationships we have built with our team members,” he wrote.

The report helps set the stage for what will likely be contentious contract negotiations with the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents 5,600 Giant Eagle employees.

The UFCW has publicly called for higher wages and protested what it sees as the grocer’s attempts to weaken the union. Last fall, Giant Eagle filed federal labor charges against the UFCW — an unusual move by an employer against a union — alleging the union “restrained and coerced” employees by protesting in and around its stores.

The union has also filed several labor charges against Giant Eagle, claiming, among other things, the company retaliated against employees for union activism.

A UFCW contract expires in June, and bargaining sessions have not yet been scheduled, according to a union spokesman.

Giant Eagle remains by far the largest privately held company based in the Pittsburgh region based on annual revenue and one of the largest employers with 32,000 employees.

But the grocer has been squeezed by broader industry challenges such as low food prices, as well as tighter competition for workers with other retailers. Sales have declined by more than 10 percent over the last four years, falling to $8.9 billion in 2017, according to the company’s figures.

Stores like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Aldi have all eaten away at market share in the Pittsburgh region, which fell to 34 percent in 2017 from 43 percent in 1997, according to the Keystone Research Center’s report.

Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette Tom Hoffman of Point Breeze and Marie Conley of New Kensington clap Wednesday during comments on the Keystone Research Center report at a rally across the street from the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle on Murray Avenue.

Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette Rev. Vincent Kolb of Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill addresses the crowd Wednesday at a rally across the street from the Giant Eagle along Murray Avenue.