Shaw's Supermarket weilds religous blue laws as a weapon

[Ian David]

AG: No gathering together at Whole Foods on turkey day
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/19/ag_no_gathering_together_at_whole_foods_on_turkey_day/


By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent | November 19, 2005

It was heavily promoted as a helpful move for the modern, constantly working, frenzied shopper: Whole Foods, the health-oriented supermarket chain, planned to open all 14 of its stores in Massachusetts for the first time on Thanksgiving Day. Shoppers could buy organic, free-range turkey hours before family arrived.

But the brash attempt to accommodate harried holiday shoppers ran smack into the state's 17th-century blue laws and Whole Foods' 21st-century competitor, Shaw's.

Having spotted a Whole Foods banner advertising Thanksgiving hours, Shaw's officials wrote to Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and, citing Colonial blue laws, asked him to block the turkey-day openings. On Tuesday, Reilly issued a sternly worded legal opinion telling Whole Foods that it would have to keep its doors closed on Thanksgiving or risk criminal charges.

<snip>

David Lannon, president of Whole Foods Market's North Atlantic Region, said that working on Thanksgiving would have been voluntary and that he would have doubled workers' pay. But he said the idea is now moot. Because of the blue laws, only convenience stores and gas stations can open on three holidays in Massachusetts: Christmas, New Year's Day, and Thanksgiving. And White Hen Pantry doesn't tend to stock organic chutney or Tofurkey Vegetarian Feast.

<snip>

First enacted in the colonies in the 1600s, blue laws were designed to stop colonists from straying from church or hearth to drink or transact business. While many of the restrictions have since been repealed, some remain on the books. The laws still include references to the Sabbath and detail the penalties for ''folk or square dancing."

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/19/ag_no_gathering_together_at_whole_foods_on_turkey_day/

Albertson's / Shaw's Information:

Shaw's
Star Market
Acme Markets
Bristol Farms
Jewel - Osco Drug

$29,829 to Democrats
$88,130 to Republicans
$0 to Others
$117,958 in Total Contributions

The Albertson's family is on a budget. The #2 US supermarket chain (behind Kroger), Albertson's operates more than 2,500 stores in 37 states under names such as Albertson's, Acme Markets, Bristol Farms, Jewel, and Shaw's. (Albertson's acquired Shaw's from J Sainsbury in 2004.) More than half are combination food stores and drugstores (most with floral, bakery, and video departments), and about 225 have gas stations. Some 700 outlets are stand-alone drugstores operating under the Osco Drug and Sav-on flags. Albertson's also runs discount warehouse stores under the Super Saver and Max Foods banners, offering discounted meat and produce. It is selectively closing stores, but adding some in the West and Southwest.

More:
http://www.buyblue.org/node/170/view/summary



Whole Foods

None
http://www.buyblue.org/node/2182/view/summary

[hippiechick]

1. Oh that's just bullshit !!

Wal Mart and all those other greedy bastard stores are open either all day or part of the day ....

[Ian David]

2. More reasons to boycott Albertson's, Shaws and Osco

Albertson's Allows Pharmacists To Let Conscience Guide Prescription Filling

Albertsons Agrees to Respect Pharmacists' Right of Conscience

Albertsons Corporation agreed to accommodate its pharmacists' right to refuse to fill prescriptions that violate their religious or moral beliefs. The accommodation came on the heels of a lawsuit filed by
attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Christian Legal Society (CLS) against Albertsons and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on behalf of pharmacist David Scimio.
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/011026.html

[Ian David]

4. Maybe we should go out of our way to report those places on Thanksgiving?

Wal-Mart
Albertson's
Shaw's
Star Market
Jewel-Osco
Acme Markets
Bristol Farms

[djg21]

5. The laws are stupid but . . .

so long as they are still on the books, they should not be selectively enforced. If some grocery stores were permitted to open on holidays, and others were not, that would be grossly unfair, and the stores that could remain opened would have a clear competitive advantage in the marketplace.

The fact that in this case, the retailer making the complaint is a large, well-financed supermarket chain really is of no relevance. Shaws and the organic food store do compete for the same business (a turkey is still a turkey irrespective of whether it is free-range or a farm-raised Butterball, despite some consumers' preferences for one or the other). They should compete on a level playing field. What's good for the goose, or in this case the tom . . .

[seaglass]

7. I don't think they are open in Massachusetts, where did you

hear that?

[hippiechick]

12. I'm in Indy, and used to live in WI

... and they're open. They close from like midnight the night before to noon or 3 PM-ish, but otherwise, they're open.

[seaglass]

14. This is about Massachusetts and we have really weird Blue

Laws.

Stores were not allowed to be opened on Sundays until the 1980's.

Liquor stores were not allowed to be open on Sundays until recently - and for many years only towns within 10(?) miles of state borders could sell liquor on Sundays. I think they finally approved all towns (except the dry ones) being able to sell liquor on Sunday.

The Holiday Blue Laws are the last remnant.

[Ian David]

17. But we can still fire a musket on Boston Commons! n/t

[napi21]

3. I don't like the idea of one chain using blue laws against another, but

since my husband is a meat cutter at a large grocery chain in the South East, I can tell you he loves the idea that the chain he works for, as a business decision, is CLOSED on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's the ONLY two holidays he knows he can always spend with the family. In all fairness, everyone has plenty of time to buy the food they need for the holiday meal! Forget about inserting religion into the picture here, all the people who work retail like to have a day off once in a while too!

[Doctor_J]

10. Good for you & hubby

I really resent that the big corps (and others) make their employees come in on holidays. We NEVER shop on those days.

[No Exit]

6. How 'bout that? And they say only "environmentalist wackos" use laws

as a cudgel to shut down businesses...

[seaglass]

8. I worked in retail when the Sunday blue laws were overturned

in MA. And it sucked. I think you should look at this from an employee perspective.

Since I was hired before the blue laws were overturned (for Sundays, not holidays) I "supposedly" had the right to refuse to work on Sundays. In reality you were not a team player if you NEVER worked on Sundays. And of course all new hires did not have the option to refuse Sundays.

Later, when I worked as a supervisor in a 24/7 call center it was extrememly difficult getting people scheduled for the holidays mentioned.

In general people DO NOT want to work on Thanksgiving etc.

[msongs]

9. religious discrimination...open anyway then sue to overturn nt

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. Thanksgiving is a secular holiday

Jews, Christians, Muslims, and athiests celebrate it.

[sybylla]

24. Not!

It maybe now but it wasn't originally.

from this post by Lynne made on a thread having a similar discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1944123&mesg_id=1944221

Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation making Thanksgiving a National Holiday states that the holiday is all about thanking GOD. Not about turkey. Not about football. But about thanking GOD.

While the holiday may not be on the church Liturgical Calendar, it is most definitely a holiday born of religion.

LINCOLNS THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION 1863

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

Abraham Lincoln

And thus it was a religious holiday when it was included in the Blue Laws.

[welshTerrier2]

11. i liked having the stores closed on Sundays

this issue was on the Massachusetts ballot some time ago ... Mass voters overwhelmingly voted to overturn the old law that banned most stores from opening on Sundays ... i voted to keep them closed ...

i don't think that law, or the one discussed in the OP, should be based on religious issues at all ... i think closing on Xmas is especially inappropriate ... if stores want to close on that day, fine, but it shouldn't be based on statute because it inappropriately, and unconstitutionally, is based on religious considerations ...

HOWEVER, i do not accept what i see as a Libertarian argument to allow stores to open on Thanksgiving and i would like to see the stores, most stores, closed on either Sundays or Saturdays ...

i think our culture is suffering a slow death from materialism ... no, i don't think closing the stores will change that ... but i do see it as unhealthy and having one day a week that encourages commerce to stay the hell out of our lives sounds pretty good to me ... i like the idea that commerce and "the boss" cannot intrude on the lives of workers and families one day every week ...

making work voluntary, as Whole Foods planned to do, is a better-than-nothing compromise ... it addresses one of the real problems with a 7 day work week ... and, i respect Whole Foods and their entire philosophy ... but, for many employers, a voluntary work day is never really voluntary at all ... the message is all too clearly communicated that "you can work or not work; it's completely up to you" ... yeah, right ...

on Sundays, with the stores closed, i used to like to go somewhere without drowning in traffic (i live near large malls) ... there was a certain peacefulness to Sundays that has disappeared ...

so i understand that people want more flexibility to shop ... no, it wouldn't destroy our culture if you could go out and buy some Tofurkey ... but i do see us losing something very important as more and more commerce replaces the more important things in life ...

[Igel]

13. I have to assume this'll go to court (again?). It'll be interesting to

see how the courts rule: they were obviously compatible with the establishment clause for a long time.

I grew up in Maryland, with blue laws. They weren't absolute: just stores with greater than a certain number of employees were affected. I never actually realized they could be a hardship (just an inconvenience) until I hit 18, had a summer M-F job, and was a strict Sabbath-keeper (that's 7th day sabbath).

Suddenly I found that the inconvenience became a larger problem: some shopping had to be done in the evening, not on weekends. I ruled out Saturday, they largely ruled out Sunday.

[Redneck Socialist]

15. "...a helpful move...

for the modern, constantly working, frenzied shopper..."

Ummm, BULLSHIT!

It's a move to squeeze out a bit more profit and the employees that have to work that day are the ones that pay the price.

We don't need to shop every minute of every goddamn fucking day. :grr:

[Ian David]

16. I have mixed feelings about it as well. n/t

[tx_dem41]

18. Sounds like a smart business move on Shaw's part.

My problem is with the stupid law, not Shaw's taking advantage of it.

Why has a Democratically-controlled lege left this on the books for years and years?

[patcox2]

20. See my answer below.

because in some industries, blue laws are actually used as the pretense for the good reason of ensuring workers in the industry have some semblance of a life.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. A smart business decision would be to promote the closure of their stores.

Shaw's, back when it was a regional chain in Maine, would have handled it that way and received much praise for preserving a family holiday.
Shaw's brand name is being driven into the ground by the recent ownership.

To answer your question about why the laws are still on the books, there has never been much interest in a full revision of the blue laws in Massachusetts. People tend to view broad changes in the laws with a great deal of suspicion in Yankeedom. Other states, like Maine, did overhaul the blue laws in the 1970s and 80s.

The Democrats have lead the charge to keep Sundays and holidays under operational restrictions in part because it ties in with the sorts of protections that unions fought for, and unions/ blue collar workers are still a solid base of support in Massachusetts.

[patcox2]

19. Blue laws are good, they are worker protections.

I work in an industry that actively lobbies to keep its antiquated mandatory Sunday closing law in place, even though its questionable from a constitutional perspective.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with religion. Its to make sure that all the workers (and the owners) get one day off a week. The business owners know thatif not for the law, someone would open Sunday because they need the extra money or something, and then in order to compete they would all have to, and as a result the quality of life of everyone in the industry would decline.

I am serious, I am there when the industry association board debates this issue, the motivation has nothing whatsoever to do with religion. Its about quality of life, a benefit for the workers.

Sure, the original choice of sunday was arbitrary, but they are keeping it. You have to pick one day, Sunday is the day most people are off, what good would it do people to get Tuesday off, does that let them spend time with the kids?

But what the fuck, lets outlaw the weekend, right? Its really an aantiquated religious tradition anyway. Everyone can work random schedules, or even just work all the time, with no break, and we would all then be free from someone forcing their religious belief in a "day od rest" on us.

[sybylla]

25. If we enforced the 40 hour work week

there would be no need for violating the separation of church and state just to make sure people had one day a week off.

In fact, if we raised the minimum wage to provide a sufficent standard of living, people wouldn't need to work 80 hours a week at three jobs to support their family.

There are much better ways to ensure a quality of life for workers than embracing biased laws.

[chat_noir]

23. (Massachusetts) AG talks turkey to Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart greeters should stay home and greet their families on Thanksgiving, according to Attorney General Tom Reilly.

After hearing complaints that the giant retailer was planning to open stores on the holiday, Reilly sent a letter to the company advising that it’s illegal to open on that day.

“For more than a century, Massachusetts has recognized that Thanksgiving is unlike other days – it is a day when families can come together and enjoy a day of rest,” he said.

Similar letters were sent yesterday to the Village Grocery Store in Roslindale and Scituate, Adams Supermarket in Monson, National Wholesale Liquidators in Boston, Big Lots in Milford and Family Dollar in Somerville. Whole Foods Market was notified about the law last week.

So far, most stores contacted have changed their plans and will stay closed. Reilly is still waiting to hear from Wal-Mart, a spokesman said. Wal-Mart officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=113556


Anyone want to bet that there will now be bills introduced to get rid of this blue law?

[Beausoir]

26. Albertson's poisoned my family.

We got food poisoning from their deli crab salad. Really. Bastards.

They should spend more time focusing on cleaning up their health code violations and less time dictating what I can and can't do on a Sunday.

[Nye Bevan]

27. I hate these stupid blue laws

You can't buy alcohol in CT on a Sunday. Last Sunday I had to drive 40 minutes roundtrip to NY state to buy a bottle of champagne.

[ThePopulist]

28. The only problem I have with whole foods is that.....

they take my entire fucking pay check every time I go in there. lol

They seriously need to go down in prices. Not everybody can afford to eat healthy all the time.