Andronico's Community Markets

Having been employed by Andronico’s Community Market for 8 years, I wanted to share with you my story and give a voice to the voiceless; employees who have dedicated years of their life to this company, and consequently, they need to be heard and you need to hear their story.

Andronico’s Community Markets had been struggling mightily for the last few years, given poor management and leadership from the very top, the overextending and building of new stores that ended up being closed (and sold for pennies on the dollar), the recession in the early part of this decade and the competition from Whole Foods, Berkeley Bowl, Monterey Market and Trader Joe’s. Additionally, Andronico’s has never wanted to address its pricing structure and as a result, has consistently been undercut by the competition.

In the summer of 2010, Bill Andronico brought in a so-called “top-notch” team (most were high in management at Whole Foods) to help turn the franchise around. Given my discussions with this leadership team, they said that they would give it a year. They didn’t say what would happen in a year if they could not turn it around. But that’s where the next part of this story takes place.

In early September 2011, a majority of employees (I worked at the Solano Store) were gathered in the employee lunchroom and informed by our Operations Manager, Sean Thomas, that Andronico's Community Markets had officially filed for bankruptcy that morning. We were all assured at that time that we all still had jobs, and as events unfolded, we would be kept in the loop and our status would be updated accordingly.

When we were updated about a week later we were told the following: that we were all going to be terminated and then officially rehired by the new company, with a 30-day probationary period, a 5% pay cut, and a mandatory drug test. After the 30-day period, we would be notified if we passed probation and were to be retained as employees.

In the week of October 9th – October 15th, all employees were "reinterviewed." This process was chaotic, to say the least. All 300+ employees were reinterviewed in the course of 3-4 days, with 3 members of the HR Department and one store director conducting 15 minute interviews, one right after another. The questions were straightforward, questions that normally would be asked in an interview. But then a question was asked that immediately raised a red flag for me. That question was: “Have you had any disciplinary procedures brought against you within the past 6 months?” Given the sequence of questions that had been asked in the interview process, I felt that question was incongruent. I felt that question was being inserted to have an additional criteria/reason to terminate an employee, but still be within the bounds of legality (more on that in future blogs).

During that same week (October 9th-15th) and the following week (October 16th-October 22nd), ALL of the Andronico’s Market stores were interviewing for new employees. Numerous employees in other stores informed me that the interviews were nonstop, from 9am in the morning to 5 or 6pm in the afternoon. Given this development, employees questioned: Why would they be interviewing so many people if they assured us that we were going to be employed through the official “change of ownership” transition? Since I, like most employees, could not answer that question, we just let it go and trusted that the bankruptcy proceedings and Bill Andronico had our best interests in mind.

The official change in ownership happened on Thursday October 27, 2011. Andronico’s was officially sold to Renovo Capital (an equity company out of Reno, Nevada). At 4:47pm in the afternoon, my cell phone rings and it's my store director and assistant store director on speakerphone. I am told: "The new company is changing hands as of midnight tonight and they are not offering you a position at this time."

I will say here that I was one of the fortunate ones. At least I got a phone call and was spoken to directly. There were employees that reported to me that a message was left on their answering machine. Two employees in particular told me that they were asked to work late because of a shift shortage, then told 7 minutes after the store closed that they were no longer employed as of midnight.

I want to keep this story in the news because of the labor issues involved and also the deplorable ethical standards used by Bill Andronico and Renovo Capital to decide what employees to retain and which employees to let go. Basically, employees were mislead, or to put it bluntly, lied to. They knew all along that they were going to lay off close to 25% of the work force, and most of that 25% being journeymen, meaning the top of the labor pay scale. Why else would they be interviewing employee’s non-stop for 2-3 days? These new employees would be brought in and paid entry-level wage. So, from a strictly economic standpoint, their thinking is to get rid of as many journeymen as possible, employ entry level wage employees, and close as many stores as need be to make the franchise profitable.

And here’s another question. What will be the criteria used to decide what employees to retain in 30 days, when the “probationary” period has expired (and the 30 days is fast approaching)? Will that be the same criteria used in the first round of layoffs? Will most of the employees laid off be journeyman again? Right now, you have employees who are scared, insecure and definitely not working up to their potential because they are just trying to keep under the radar, hoping that in 30 days they still have a job. There are also employees that have been fired in the last 30 days for no reason other than the fact that they are on 30-day probation. Hopefully, the union will be able to address their issues promptly and fairly. But the union is in a delicate position because they have an ongoing relationship with the new company that they have to honor and protect.

What has happened to Andronico employees is not unique. It is happening all over the country right now. But what does make this situation unique is that a most of the employees that were laid off were dedicated employees, some of them having worked their whole employed life at Andronico’s. And the bottom line was that they should have been treated better. They should not have been informed 5-6 hours before midnight that they did not have a job. And the employees that had more than 10 years with the company (some employees having 20+ years) should have been given some sort of severance package (the excuse used of course was that they are bankrupt). Ironically (and sadly) Bill Andronico has consistently stated over the years, both publicly and privately, how we Andronico’s employees are “family.” Is this the way you treat family? If so, maybe the employees that are still employed by Andronico’s should file for adoption.

Men, Sex and Power

Hey all!

Here is a great piece by Kevin Powell on Men, Sex and Power.

Men, Sex and Power
By Kevin Powell
Nov 15, 2011, 14:11

Joe Paterno. Herman Cain. Penn State football. Presidential campaigns. Men. Sex. Power. Women. Harassed. Children. Abused.

These are some of the hash tags that have tweeted through my mind nonstop, these past several days, as multiple sexual harassment charges have been hurled at Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain; as Jerry Sandusky, former defensive coordinator for Penn State’s storied football program, was arrested on 40 counts related to allegations of sexual abuse of eight young boys over a 15-year period. Sandusky’s alleged indiscretions have not only brought back very ugly and unsettling memories of the Catholic Church sexual abuse mania a few short years ago, but has led to the firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno and Penn State president Graham Spanier, plus the indictments of athletic director Tim Curley and a vice president, Gary Schultz, for failing to report a grad assistant’s eyewitness account of Sandusky allegedly having anal sex with a ten-year-old boy in a shower on the university’s campus in 2002.


In the matter of Mr. Herman Cain I cringed, to be blunt, as I watched his press conference this week denying accusations of sexual harassment against him, which has swelled to four different women, two identified and two anonymous, for now. I was not there, so I don’t know, only he and the women know the truth. But what was telling in Mr. Cain’s remarks is that he was visibly defensive and defiant, rambled quite a bit about the media’s smear campaign and, most curious, only once mentioned sexual harassment as a major problem in America, and it was just one quick, passing sentence. Then he went back to discussing himself, which he is particularly adept at doing.


What Herman Cain and the disgraced male leaders of Penn State have in common is the issue of power and privilege we men not only wield like our birthright, but which has come to be so inextricably linked to our identities. So much so, in fact, that many of us, regardless of race, class, religion and, in some cases, even sexual orientation or physical abilities, don’t even realize what a disaster manhood is when it is unapologetically invested in power, privilege, patriarchy, sexism, and a reckless disregard for the safety and sanity of others, especially women and children.


Every single year, it seems, some well-known man somewhere gets into trouble because of sex, money, drugs, or violence, or some combination thereof (and God only knows how many unknown males do likewise). It is always the same themes, just with a new cast of characters. Yesterday it was priests of the Catholic Church. Today it is the male leadership of Penn State. Yesterday it was Anthony Weiner and Charlie Sheen. Today it is Herman Cain. I remember earlier this year, in fact, in the wake of Mr. Weiner’s sudden and rapid fall from grace, a report was published that said over 90 percent of sex scandals in America feature us men as the culprits. That very few women engage in that mode of self-destructive behavior.


The question begs itself: Why not? I feel it has to do with how we construct manhood from birth. Most of us boys are taught, basically from the time we can talk and walk, to be strong, tough, loud, dominating, aggressive, and, yes, even violent, even if that violence is masked in tales of war or Saturday afternoon college football games. Without anything to counteract that mindset like, say, that it is okay for boys and men to tell the truth, to show raw emotions and vulnerability, to cry, to view girls and women as our equals on every level, we are left with so many of us, far into adulthood, as fully formed physically but incredibly undeveloped emotionally. And if you are a male who happens to have been sexually assaulted or abused yourself, and never got any real help in any form, highly likely you will at some point become a sexual predator yourself. And if you are a man who still thinks we are in pre-feminist movement America where it was once okay to, well, touch, massage, or caress a female colleague inappropriately, to talk sex to her, as she is either working for you or attempting to secure a job (and has not given you permission to do so), then you are also likely to be the kind of male who will deny any of it ever happened. Again and again and again¬


The bottom line is that our notions of manhood are totally and embarrassingly out of control, and some of us have got to stand up and say enough, that we’ve got to redefine what it is to be a man, even as we, myself included, are unfailingly forthright about our shortcomings and our failures as men, and how some of us have even engaged in the behaviors splashed across the national news this year alone.


But to get to that new kind of manhood means we’ve got to really dig into our souls and admit the old ways are not only not working, but they are so painfully hurtful to women, to children, to communities, businesses, institutions, and government, to sport and play, and to ourselves. Looking in the mirror is never easy but if not now, when? And if not us in these times, then we can surely expect the vicious cycles of manhood gone mad to continue for generations to come, as evidenced by a recent report in the New York Times of a steadily climbing number of American teen boys already engaging in lewd sexual conduct toward girls. Where are these boys learning these attitudes if not from the men around them, in person, in the media, on television and in film, in video games, or from their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, older brothers, teachers, and, yes, coaches?


For sure, nothing sadder and more tragic than to see 84-year-old Coach Joe Paterno, who I’ve admired since I was a child, throwing away 46 years of coaching heroism and worship (and 62 total years on the school’s football staff) because the power, glory, and symbolism of Penn State football was above protecting the boys allegedly touched and molested by Sandusky. Equally sad and tragic when Mr. Cain’s supporters are quick to call what is happening to him a lynching when this man, this Black man, has never been tarred and feathered, never been hung from a tree, never had his testicles cut from his body, never been set on fire, as many Black men were, in America, in the days when lynching was as big a national sport as college football is today. Anything, it seems, to refute the very graphic and detailed stories of the women accusing Mr. Cain of profoundly wrong, unprofessional, and inhuman conduct.


But, as I stated, when our sense of manhood has gone mad, completely mad, anything goes, and anything will be said (or nothing said at all), or done, to protect the guilty, at the expense of the innocent. We’ve got to do better than this, gentlemen, brothers, boys, for the sake of ourselves, for the sake of our nation and our world. It was Albert Einstein who famously stated that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Then insanity may also mean men and boys doing the same things over and over again, for the sake of warped and damaged manhood, and expecting forward progress to happen, but then it all crumbles, once more, in a heap of facts, finger-pointing, and forgetful memories when convenient.


If any good can come of the Cain and Penn State disasters it is my sincere hope that spaces and movements are created, finally, where we men can really begin to rethink what manhood can be, what manhood might be. Manhood that is not about power, privilege, and the almighty penis, but instead rooted in a sense of humanity, in peace, in love, in nonviolence, in honesty and transparency, in constant self-criticism and self-reflection, and in respect and honor of women and girls, again, as our equals; in spaces and movements where men and boys who might not be hyper-macho and sports fanatics like some us are not treated as outcasts, as freaks, as less than men or boys. A manhood where if we see something bad happening, we say something, and not simply stick our heads in the sand and pretend that something did not happen. Or worse, yet, do something wrong ourselves, and when confronted with that wrongness, rather than confess, acknowledge, grow, heal, evolve, we instead dig in our heels and imagine ourselves in an all-out war, proclaiming our innocence to any who will listen, even as truth grows, like tall and daunting trees in a distant and darkened woods, about us.


A manhood, alas, where we men and boys understand that we must be allies to women and girls, allies to all children, and be much louder, visible, and outspoken about sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse and molestation. Knowing that if we are on the frontlines of these human tragedies then we can surely help to make them end once and for all, for the good of us all.


That means time for some of us to grow, and to grow up. Time for some of us to let go of the ego trips and the pissing contests to protect bruised and battered egos of boys masquerading as men. Before it is too late, before some of us hurt more women, more children, and more of ourselves, yet again¬


Kevin Powell is an activist, public speaker, and author or editor of 10 books. His 11th book, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, and The Ghost of Dr. King: And Other Blogs and Essays, will be published by lulu.com in January 2012. You can reach him at kevin@kevinpowell.net, or follow him on Twitter @kevin_powell