04/20/2021
This article was originally published on JustBloNo.net on April 15, 2021.
For a second day, Green Top Grocery workers withheld their labor in protest. Workers allege a hostile working environment, violations of Illinois labor laws, & retaliation against whistle blowers. Six employees, or approximately 25% of Green Top’s labor force, did not appear for work today according to employee Sarah Greenberg. Workers did this knowing full well they could be terminated. Illinois is an at-will state and there are few protections for non-unionized workers.
The workers say they did not come to this decision lightly and stressed they exhausted all formal avenues to addressing their concerns.
The accusations largely revolve around current Green Top Grocery Marketing Manager Michael Talley. Accusations against Mr. Talley include wrongful termination, and consistently uncooperative, dismissive and disrespectful behavior towards other team members. The primary objective of the workers is for Green Top Groceries to terminate Talley and not rehire him.
Just BloNo spoke with Talley. He said, “Green Top Grocery will be releasing a statement. All these allegations are false. At this time, I can’t say any more than that.”
Green Top Grocery has yet to release an official statement.
Two Green Top Grocery vendors, local businesses Great Harvest Bread Co. and Under the Ground Blono, have made the decision to withhold their orders in solidarity with staff. Workers are calling on other local vendors to join them by refusing to deliver goods unless their demands are met.
This story will be updated as needed.
