Union wins back pay for Kroger worker after unjust firing

Over 39 hardworking years at Kroger store #328 in Kingsport, Tennessee, Judy Cook had a perfect performance record. She received glowing reviews, was never written up, was never late and hadn’t even taken a sick day for 25 years. Then one day, out of the blue, Judy was suspended without pay. Kroger charged her with holding back marked-down items for herself, rather than putting them on the shelves. But she had done no such thing. “It totally destroyed me,” Judy said, “because I had devoted my life to Kroger. I could not believe they could do anything like this. It killed my soul.” If she wasn’t a union member, Judy would have probably just lost her job. But her union, UFCW Local 400, filed a grievance and eventually, not only did Judy get her job back, but she won full back pay for the five-and-a-half weeks she was suspended. “Without our union, I shudder to think what things would be like,” Judy says. “Look how employers treat their workers when they don’t have unions.” Read more on UFCW 400’s blog, and hear Judy on today's "Your Rights At Work" radio show at 2p (see Calendar at right)

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