President John T. Niccollai
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT JOHN T. NICCOLLAI - TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021
KINGS UPDATE – RETENTION BONUS – UNUSED VACATION PAY
Your Union is pleased to report success concerning the payment of the Retention Bonus now projected for inclusion in this week’s pay period. As you will recall, the Retention Bonus is $200.00 for full-time members and $100.00 for part-time members on the payroll as of May 31, 2021.
Your Union continues to fight fiercely for the payout of unused vacation time. Although we informed Kings Members to use their vacation before the sale of the Company, there were some members who were unable to do so.
In our negotiations with the ACME Group that acquired Kings, we were successful in getting them to assume responsibility for certain issues not resolved by the Bankrupt Company. It is the Union’s contention that the issue of unused vacation pay must be addressed by the present owner-operators. As we formerly recommended to all our affected members, they should search out and compile any paystubs, letters, notes, payroll records or any other documentation which would help prove a claim. Obviously, it will be most difficult to prevail in this matter without some type of a record or proof. It is also the understanding of the Union that a Company Website captioned myestub.com may also be helpful in preparing documentation.
Your Union is also in touch with the Bankruptcy Attorneys for Kings in order to determine what if any payroll records may be in their possession. The real difficulty with the entire unused vacation pay issue is that some of our Brothers and Sisters made private arrangements with Store Managers and Supervision that were not properly documented, and were not protected by the Union Contract since the Union was not informed as to this practice until the bankruptcy.
Notwithstanding any of these problems, the Union has an obligation to fight aggressively on your behalf and we will!
PLEASE STAY SAFE AND WORK SMARTLY AS WE SEE A SPIKEIN COVID-19 CASES!