A&P issues layoff notices as it navigates bankruptcy proceedings
A&P issues layoff notices as it navigates bankruptcy proceedings
Following an inability to reach a compromise on its collective bargaining agreement with the union representing its workers, A&P has issued layoff notifications to workers at all of its stores. The notifications, called Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notifications, or WARN notices, are required by federal law when layoffs are expected within 60 days.
Most A&P locations are still on the market and the retailer hopes to sell them to competitors soon. A judge in the bankruptcy case previously approved the closure of 25 locations.
The judge also said that he will require bidders to declare in writing that they have not discussed bids with other bidders in an effort to keep bids low, which he said happened in similar grocery chain bankruptcies in the past.
A&P was seeking relief from the provisions in its contract with the United Food & Commercial Workers Union due to its “precarious” financial condition, it said in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, NY. It said its only alternative was a Chapter 7 liquidation.
“Every day and every dollar spent in Chapter 11 is an additional economic hurdle to confirming a Chapter 11 plan,” it said in the filing.
"While bankruptcy law favors companies like A&P, we are going to fight hard in negotiations and in court to protect our members and our contracts," UFCW said in a statement.
A&P is seeking to remove the “bumping” and severance obligations from the CBA it has with its union workers. Bumping is the practice that allows senior employees to take jobs from less-experienced workers in the event of store closures. The retailer said that is hampering its efforts to distribute stores among multiple buyers.
“There are simply no stores that the debtors will own on a go-forward basis to which senior employees can be transferred,” A&P said in its filing.
A&P said it is awaiting a response from the UFCW on its latest proposal.
