Wow, this is certainly an interesting development. BevMo, the company where I was the beer buyer for nearly five years in the late 1990s, is coming under fire by the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 5, for their treatment of employees. They were never exactly great to their employees. Like almost every big or growing American company, they squeezed a lot out of their workers, expected long hours from salaried employees. Don’t get me wrong, I liked a lot of things about the job, and met a great many good people — though a fair number are no longer there — but it was demanding in a way that was beneficial to the company, but necessarily to the well-being of the people doing all the actual work. I know that’s a fairly common scenario, but it must have grown even worse, because for a Union to step in and go after BevMo the way they are suggests a level of poor treatment above and beyond the average company.
According to the BevMo Can Afford to Do Better website set up by UFCW-5, they launched a campaign last week against BevMo “[o]n the heels of the company’s August 1 announcement eliminating full time jobs across the chain and under [the subsequent] BevMo rules resulting in the loss of health benefits for the new part time employees, the workers are fighting back.”
BevMo Can Afford to Do Better
BevMo! currently operates 104 superstores, located in California & Arizona. In March 2007, TowerBrook formally announced its acquisition of BevMo! TowerBrook is a private equity firm with $2.5 billion under management. TowerBrook pursues control-oriented private equity investments in large and middle market companies and has committed to making BevMo even more successful. According to BevMo’s CEO, Alan Johnson, sales in 2000 were around $100 million and in 2009 reached well over $500 million. Since Towerbrook’s acquisition of the company, BevMo has opened 40 new stores with plans to open 100 more over the next few years. Clearly, BevMo CAN AFFORD TO DO BETTER.
A press conference was held earlier today at Embarcadero and Clay streets in Oakland to explain the campaign to the public. The demands of the workers were laid out, as follows:
- Restore Full Time Positions
- Restore Health Benefits
- Initiate a Wage Increase Immediately
- Restore the 401(K)
- Union Recognition by BevMo
They’ve also set up a Facebook page about the campaign. And they’ve released a video outlining it, as well.
Hmm, I wonder if they’ll start calling for a boycott?
Wow. Sounds like they are trying to become the Wal-Mart of the beverage industry by keeping benny costs low by ensuring that no one ever works enough hours to qualify for them.
I miss many of the great people you worked with there, but I don’t miss you working there at all, as I never got to see you or spend time with you back then. 🙁
They aren’t demanding increased cold storage space?
In my experience, unions typically exaggerate the bad acts and motives of their members’ employers. This is doubly so when they’re trying to extract various “improvements”. By the same token, some companies can act like horses asses. I don’t take what either side says as anywhere close to gospel. No matter how thin you slice it, the baloney has 2 sides.
As a current BevMo employee and craft beer enthusiast, I can attest to what is going on and there is some truth to both sides. There is also some exaggerations on both sides. Is BevMo outright cutting benefits? No. Are they making it more difficult for their employees to get and/or keep benefits? Yes. Me, personally, I have seen my hours severely reduced from 32-40 to 20-24 a week and I cannot pay all of my bills on that. I would go into further detail, but I fear for my job security.
Keep up the good work Jay. I enjoy your blog.
B.W. I ‘m a current bevmo employee, yes they are cutting all benefits , you can keep health care till Feb,2011 then it’s gone. They reduced hours and keep hiring, 20-24 hours we’ll be tops forever, turnover is the name of the game. Union is our only hope!
@BC
Or you c0uld get a new job. Bevmo does not owe you a job, it is up to you to develop a marketable skill set somone will pay you for.
Retail has not been a reliable way to make a living in a looong time.
Can I come and live in your world, where the houses are made of candy and the rivers flow with beer! What you say may be technically true, but it ignores reality. I know you didn’t mean to, but you’ve pushed one of my buttons. I hate that argument. It conveniently gives companies an excuse to treat people like shit. That retail isn’t a great career path, even though we need plenty of them, is hardly a reason why people who do it can’t expect to be treated with respect. At-will contracts for employment exist because there’s a presumption that the two parties bargain from an equal position, which is not anywhere remotely the case, especially in the current economy. If people could so easily just go get another job, as you so heartlessly and carelessly suggest, they most likely would. But that’s not the reality, is it? And you probably already know that, which makes your statement all the more offensive.
Thanks, J
It easy to look down on people when you have a good job.Someday Biker Aggie might be force to work for BevMo. And she’ll be glad that it’s union and she can get enought hours to live on. Which is not the case now, they keep hiring part timers to insure nobody gets over 25 hours.
What all you people need to know is the inside story not the union dirt talk. What is needed is a few managers to take a stand and speak out to the public and especially the investors on as to how the bevmo CEO’s are tearing down a once promising business. Too bad they fear their jobs more than the lowly workers (the blood of Bevmo).May as well say this store has AIDS. Because the top has and is screwing the bottom dwellers.
Everyone forgets that unions are a business too and in the market for making money via dues. What happens when no demands are met? I know someone who works at Bevmo – while the hours were reduced the health benefits never went away and the 401k never went away. The demands these people are making dont have to be met, then people will be stuck with less hours and a new bill …dues.
As a manager for BevMo I can attest to the incompetence and downright negligance of the company for it’s employees. I have seen great loyal employees be cut on hours to 10-15 a week while new employees are hired and given 5-10 hours. Cheap ass companies will eventually short themselves out of the market as a powerhouse. Take Bally Total Fitness as an example. Greed corrupts companies. Remember the heads of these companies have great benefits and pay….BECAUSE of us that work for shit wages.
As a current BevMoid and one who was hired shortly before the announcement of attempted unionization, I can attest that things have not gotten better.
We had a secret meeting with the VPs and CEO of the company so they could talk all of the employees out of wanting to go union. There were promises made, but never delivered on. Scheduling has become more and more of an issue – sometimes we won’t get it until the day before the new week starts, and often the schedule will be changed midweek (after it’s been posted) with only a few people knowing of it. The benefits are laughable – they DO exist, but are marginal. And the new MO is to tack on more work and more responsibility without a merit increase – part-time associates are assigned departments to manage when they have minimal hours and see no benefit in their work. The company is very top-heavy with no acknowledgment of the people who line their pockets.
*drops the mic
As a current employee of BevMo, I can say without a doubt that BevMo continues its downward spiral of poor treatment to dedicated, hard working employees. What’s been going on for some time now, continues to worsen. Hours are shortened for associates almost on a weekly basis, as the company insists that stores hire more people; specifically looking for people who are okay with only working 5-12 hours. Those hours are taken from the established associates. Pay is also poor for non-management positions, and benefits are non-existent. BevMo wins though because their employees(me included) for some reason CARE about what we’re doing, about the customers we help, about educating one another, all while complaining about the company we work for. BevMo encourages knowledge of employees, particularly of wine and gives us opportunities to taste and learn. But, then they won’t give anyone hours to share that knowledge with our customers, who for the most part love the employees who take care of them. Hopefully someday soon BevMo will wake up and take proper care of their employees. If not, the good associates will eventually leave and go elsewhere. What a shame. What a shame that BevMo doesn’t care and can’t see the writing on the wall. It’s only good if you’re in upper management or corporate…