There's a battle brewing in the Key Foods on Montague Street, and the Brooklyn Heights Blog is all over the story. Mamodou "Mohammed" Doucoure, who's worked for the store since the '90s, has accused the store owners of demoting him to punish him for asking for overtime pay and a pension. They, in turn, claim the demotion was for sexual harassment. As for the union, they haven't done much to defend Doucoure's case.
There's a larger workers-rights issue at stake: Other employees also say they've been pushed out after trying to join the union. And it sounds like membership isn't much of a boon, since the store owners, Enrico Palazio and Ivan Arguello, allegedly like to hint to workers that they "own the union" anyway. The union's response, in a letter to the blog: Key Food workers have an "outstanding contract," and since the Labor Board has considered (and dismissed) Doucoure's claims, the union has officially done its job.
· Fighting for Workers’ Rights at Montague Street Key Food [BHB]
· Key Food Union: Workers Have “Outstanding” Contract [BHB]For more stories from Racked, go to racked.com.
