Some Upper Valley residents are advocating for a protest and boycott of the Co-op Food Store following the firings of two employees at the store’s Lebanon establishment, demanding the release of details regarding the firings.
Daniel King, who worked in the wine department, and John Boutin, who worked in the cheese department, were fired on June 13. Since then, several community members have taken to email Listservs, expressing anger over the terminations. Some local residents said they believed that Boutin and King’s interest in unionizing Co-op employees may have played a role in their firing.
Eight of 12 Co-op shoppers interviewed as they left the store on Monday afternoon said they had not heard about the potential protest or boycott. Three of the people who had heard about it said that they had no plans to join the boycott or any potential protest.
The Co-op’s communications department did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time. Boutin declined to comment beyond confirming that he and King were fired June 13.
Nicole Cormen, who said she has been a member of the Co-op for over two decades, said that she and her husband will no longer shop in the Co-op’s wine or cheese departments until the management explains why Boutin and King were fired.
Cormen said that she will boycott these departments because she does not support the way the two men were fired, alleging that King and Boutin were not told the reasons of their termination.
“The public does not need to know the reasons for their firing, but the employees are entitled to know why they were let go,” Cormen said. “It’s just basic decency.”
Sam Dumpert, a member of the Co-op, said that if indeed Boutin and King were fired because they wished to unionize, the decision contradicts the Co-op’s values.
“Union-busting is something I feel strongly about,” she said. “As a shareholder, I want a say.”
Dumpert added that she plans to take part in a protest against the Co-op.
Don Kreis, who served on the Co-op’s board of directors from 2003 to 2013, said that he does not plan on joining any protests against the Co-op. He plans to attend the next board meeting, scheduled for July 23, even though he said the board is not responsible for day-to-day management decisions like hiring and firing of store employees.
While Cormen said she does not approve of how the two men were fired, she noted the Co-op’s attempts to pay their employees a living wage, higher than those at other local supermarkets. She said she will not boycott the establishment’s other departments, as she awaits a public response from the Co-op management.
“I felt like it was an overreaction to immediately boycott,” Cormen said. “It’s difficult because we want to know the reasons. There’s always at least two sides for each story.”
Cormen said she had always considered Boutin and King to be strong employees. She added that employees at other local stores may not have the depth of knowledge that King and Boutin had.
“Dan King could be a sommelier in one of the finest restaurants,” she said. “We’re really going to miss him.”
Kreis said that, moving forward, keeping the members’ trust is important for the Co-op.
“It’s owned by all the people who shop there, and those people need to feel trusting to it,” he said.
Kreis and Cormen said that a possible long-term solution for the company would be to potentially become a “solidarity” co-op, where the board members would be made up of an equal mix of representatives of the members of the organization and representatives of the employees. Currently, the board of directors is elected by the Co-op members.
She also said that the Co-op should also make an effort to focus on its roots as a cooperative, not a corporate, supermarket by maintaining a close connection to the members.
“Maybe it’s time for us to take a step back and make sure that we are not losing what made the Co-op special,” she said.
Kreis said that the community needs to continue to maintain and strengthen the Co-op.
“The cooperative form of doing business is the secret success story of capitalism,” he said. “It’s one of the most important community assets that we have.”
