For obvious whistleblowing reasons, I've created a throwaway account in order to put my place of employment on blast. I work for Kowalski's Markets, a chain of Minnesotan grocery stores geared towards the bourgeoisie. While we are a unionized grocery store, the owners devise creative ways to abuse their employees. From lackluster starting wages ($11/hr) and lack of benefits and pto for a year for new hires to a blatant disregard for employees' mental health, there's a lot to cover. Did I mention that there is also a pay cap of $14/hr for all employees and they only let people go above the pay cap in special cases? Kowalski's also circumvents the quota for full-time positions imposed by the union by just not meeting the quota and opting to pay a fine.
Let's start with the god awful corporate culture known as 'civics'. Civics is used to create the illusion of egalitarianism within the company by referring to everyone involved in the company (including employees) as stakeholders. Choosing not to follow this corporate culture is grounds for termination. Kowalski's often abuses 'civics' as a guise for anti-union rhetoric. For example, if an employee chooses to go to the Union before going to management to resolve an issue, Kowalski's will deem the employee's actions 'uncivic' and chastise them for going to the union.
While we had 'pandemic pay' (an extra $2/hr) longer than most other places, Kowalski's hasn't reinstated 'pandemic pay' despite the recent spikes in covid and the danger the pandemic imposes on their employees. For Christmas, all employees received a $250 bonus essentially as a bribe to quell some of the negative morale. To expand on the previous point, in my many years there (over a decade), I've *never* received a bonus. Despite a massive boom in business, Kowalski's refuses to reinstate 'pandemic pay'. Instead, Kowalski's chooses to spend it's money on immensely expensive vanity projects (tons and tons of remodeling) in order to 'improve' the aesthetic of their stores.
Kowalski's also discourages its employees from discussing wages. Another fun fact, supervisors and regular employees receive that same compensation. Kowalski's justifies this by pointing out the scaling wage that conveniently caps at $14/hr (except for Meat department but those positions are very scarce). Kowalski's actually froze wages despite record profits a few years back which prompted a strike. While we do get modest yearly raises ($0.25) from our union contract, it does almost nothing to make up for inflation given that most employees stop receiving regular raises at $14/hr and have to rely on the yearly raises from the contract. Kowalski's has even begun classifying department manager positions as part-time and paying department managers under $20/hr.
Kowalski's management is also as poor as the way they treat their employees. Being a chain that subscribe to “the customer is always right” mantra, Kowalski's will reward customers for their anger towards employees while chastising their employees for not making the customer happy. Store Managers have a blatant regard for employee mental health (our health insurance does little to help cover mental health) and run their employees to their breaking point. With an immensely strict attendance policy with no paid sick days, management will make you feel guilty about calling in sick. And don't get me started on the poor training standards. The staffing issues incurred by the awful starting wages and lack of benefits means that employees will receive minimal support and training causing management to only put more pressure on what employees they have. There is also rampant nepotism within the company as the Kowalski's will bring in family members (and family members of higher-level management) for managerial positions while skipping over more-qualified candidates.
Anywho, I'm making this post because we're in the middle of union contract negotiations and the situation in the stores is really, really bad. I already filled out a survey provided by the union so I could voice my opinions on these matters but I also wanted to do something more. I want to spread awareness of what's going on here so we can put pressure on Kowalski's so that they make changes for the better and rectify these workplace atrocities. I know the situation isn't as bad as most of the stuff I see on this sub, but I'm desperate and at my breaking point and really want things to change for the better.
TL;DR: I work a *unionized* grocery store owned by the bourgeoisie and it's still a late-stage capitalist nightmare. However, now's the time to put pressure on them to ensure a better contract for workers.
Edit: Forgot the nepotism