Fuck Aldi. I worked for them for several years, the cheap prices are at the expense of overworking their employees and keeping an absolute skeleton crew. In the one I worked at in the US, it was in the supervisor handbook that any employee that even joked about forming a union was to be fired on the spot. Legal protections vary state to state on that ofc, but I’m not interested in doxing myself further as to what state I worked in.
I’d only be interested in them being in Canada if the workers could unionize. They would still make a killing even if unionizing increased the costs of operation, their stuff would still be cheap compared to most grocers.
The closest comparison price and quality wise I’ve seen is FreshCo, but even then uhhh not really. The store brand items from Aldi were actually good or passable quality. The store brand items in Canada from any grocery franchise is shit imo.
I have never been to a US Aldi only the German and Austrian (Hofer) ones. And I have never worked for any. Their products are great and the prices reasonable. That’s what I am looking for.
The German and Austrian ones are much better from what I heard internally and I believe they are also unionized? Or just have more labour protections. But yeah the products are cheap and the quality was oftentimes acceptable or even better than name brand stuff. The cheap prices were the only reason I could eat well in the US. I love and hate them.
and I believe they are also unionized? Or just have more labour protections.
Well first off there are two Aldis in Germany, Aldi Süd (south, I think this is the one active in America and Austria) and Aldi Nord (north). Since they are different companies, they will have differences in how they treat labour organisations.
Genrally speaking they will both of course oppose them though, as companies are wont to do. For example two month ago Aldi Nord fired a member of the works council (something like a union rep, but independently elected by all employees), which is a rather… uncommon occurrence due to their legal protections. Their lawyer is optimistic.
The companies are unionised to a degree, for example the aforementioned work council had 4/19 members coming from Ver.di, a cross-occupational union for service workers of all kinds. It’s not uncommon for big employers like the Aldis to have several unions active among their staff, but all employees being union members is also rare.
Overall though it’s probably mostly the labour protections by law that you are seeing at work here. For example the possibility to create these work councils, which can have quite a lot of influence on company policy, is mandated by law. You have to announce a company wide meeting and then the quorum to elect a representative at that meeting is three(!) people, no matter the company size.
Pretty much yep lol. To Aldi’s credit, I got USD$18/hr while everywhere else paid at most $11-13/hr. The working conditions sure as hell made you earn it though, I still have back pain from my manager pushing me to unload the food deliveries faster and faster. One whole food pallet of mixed foods, 7ft tall or more, needed to be done in 30 minutes on average, within 3 hours before opening. We would regularly get 6-7 pallets, and during peak sales I’d have to solo 10-13 pallets by myself.
Grocery workers need to unionize YESTERDAY. I wonder if a grocery store union could be an element in solving the overly greedy food profiteering. Call me a communist but food should only be sold exactly at how much it cost to grow and transport it to the store and a living wage for the farmers and employees. Go make profit somewhere else capitalist boy. Deeply interested in how those New York City owned grocery stores will play out. I hope they are successful.
NGL this was mostly just me ranting rather than making any worthwhile discussion lol
Fuck Aldi. I worked for them for several years, the cheap prices are at the expense of overworking their employees and keeping an absolute skeleton crew. In the one I worked at in the US, it was in the supervisor handbook that any employee that even joked about forming a union was to be fired on the spot. Legal protections vary state to state on that ofc, but I’m not interested in doxing myself further as to what state I worked in.
I’d only be interested in them being in Canada if the workers could unionize. They would still make a killing even if unionizing increased the costs of operation, their stuff would still be cheap compared to most grocers.
The closest comparison price and quality wise I’ve seen is FreshCo, but even then uhhh not really. The store brand items from Aldi were actually good or passable quality. The store brand items in Canada from any grocery franchise is shit imo.
I have never been to a US Aldi only the German and Austrian (Hofer) ones. And I have never worked for any. Their products are great and the prices reasonable. That’s what I am looking for.
The German and Austrian ones are much better from what I heard internally and I believe they are also unionized? Or just have more labour protections. But yeah the products are cheap and the quality was oftentimes acceptable or even better than name brand stuff. The cheap prices were the only reason I could eat well in the US. I love and hate them.
Well first off there are two Aldis in Germany, Aldi Süd (south, I think this is the one active in America and Austria) and Aldi Nord (north). Since they are different companies, they will have differences in how they treat labour organisations.
Genrally speaking they will both of course oppose them though, as companies are wont to do. For example two month ago Aldi Nord fired a member of the works council (something like a union rep, but independently elected by all employees), which is a rather… uncommon occurrence due to their legal protections. Their lawyer is optimistic.
The companies are unionised to a degree, for example the aforementioned work council had 4/19 members coming from Ver.di, a cross-occupational union for service workers of all kinds. It’s not uncommon for big employers like the Aldis to have several unions active among their staff, but all employees being union members is also rare.
Overall though it’s probably mostly the labour protections by law that you are seeing at work here. For example the possibility to create these work councils, which can have quite a lot of influence on company policy, is mandated by law. You have to announce a company wide meeting and then the quorum to elect a representative at that meeting is three(!) people, no matter the company size.
So the same as everywhere else?
Pretty much yep lol. To Aldi’s credit, I got USD$18/hr while everywhere else paid at most $11-13/hr. The working conditions sure as hell made you earn it though, I still have back pain from my manager pushing me to unload the food deliveries faster and faster. One whole food pallet of mixed foods, 7ft tall or more, needed to be done in 30 minutes on average, within 3 hours before opening. We would regularly get 6-7 pallets, and during peak sales I’d have to solo 10-13 pallets by myself.
Grocery workers need to unionize YESTERDAY. I wonder if a grocery store union could be an element in solving the overly greedy food profiteering. Call me a communist but food should only be sold exactly at how much it cost to grow and transport it to the store and a living wage for the farmers and employees. Go make profit somewhere else capitalist boy. Deeply interested in how those New York City owned grocery stores will play out. I hope they are successful.
NGL this was mostly just me ranting rather than making any worthwhile discussion lol