You might want to do your grocery shopping at safeway or Wegmans. Giant is doing away with fresh cut meats. They are building a facility in Pa, cutting and packing your steaks like Walmart and Target. They say it will be fresh, just ignore the funny taste.

Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...Giant is doing away with fresh cut meats...

Wow, is that right?

We get most of our meat from either Costco or one of the gajillion Asian markets but, on occasion, from Giant, too.

No more!

==========

Butchers are probably the highest paid Giant employees, I'd bet. They'll be "saving" a bundle by eliminating most of them.

Initially.

They already do that now with ground beef and chicken. Comes prepackaged around 1.13lbs or 3.3lbs. Good luck if you want 1.5lbs or 2 pounds. Seafood will be prepackaged as well. When they start prepackaging steaks and the rest of their meats next year, I will no longer shop their.

The Giant by us sucks ass. Shelves are stocked on Thursday night. By Saturday they are out of a lot of the sale items. They won't restock the shelves until the following Thursday.

Don't get me started on the non-english speakers that work there.

I miss the days when Giant was a family run business based in Landover. Shelves were never empty and employees were a lot more friendly.

link here:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pennsylvania-governor-corbett-ahold-usa-to-build-new-facility-in-harrisburg-region-create-hundreds-of-jobs-179

Meat cutters at your local Giant will be offered other jobs in different areas of the store at a significant reduction in salary.

What's "Giant"?

Alreadyhappening Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Meat cutters at your local Giant will be offered
> other jobs in different areas of the store at a
> significant reduction in salary.

Giant's a union shop (at least the one on Stone Road is) so I'd expect the "rules" require them to offer the meat cutters something or other.

Here's a working link to PA news:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pennsylvania-governor-corbett-ahold-usa-to-build-new-facility-in-harrisburg-region-create-hundreds-of-jobs-179121001.html

Comfort Food Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Alreadyhappening Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Meat cutters at your local Giant will be
> offered
> > other jobs in different areas of the store at a
> > significant reduction in salary.
>
> Giant's a union shop (at least the one on Stone
> Road is) so I'd expect the "rules" require them to
> offer the meat cutters something or other.


Why would you even bother with Giant ?, you can save about 35 to 40% by going to the Walmart another 5 minutes away. Open aisles, stocked shelves, no skateboarders or Stone road trash walking around shoplifting. Always walk up to an open cashier instead of waiting 10 minutes in line to watch a cashier walking the slow motion Green Mile as they do at Giant.

In what universe is your WalMart located?

Giant hasn't been Giant since Izzy Cohen died, so this shouldn't be a surprise.

wasting your hard earned money Wrote:
> Why would you even bother with Giant?

That's actually an entirely valid question and one we usually answer by "We don't".

However, our time is more valuable than money so when we're buying minimal things - like bread and milk - we go to Giant rather than Walmart/Generic Asian Market.

Giant for sure is expensive relative to just about anywhere so we avoid it for general grocery shopping - Costco for bulk, Generic Asian Market for fruit/veggies/usually meat/fish, Walmart for shampoo etc.

Since Giant is two stop lights and about a mile away, it's MUCH faster to get the bread/milk there than Walmart. Simple as that.

Wish the old Westfield Safeway/Grand Village location had a simple staples grocery - we'd stop entirely driving to Giant.

wasting your hard earned money Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Comfort Food Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Alreadyhappening Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Meat cutters at your local Giant will be
> > offered
> > > other jobs in different areas of the store at
> a
> > > significant reduction in salary.
> >
> > Giant's a union shop (at least the one on Stone
> > Road is) so I'd expect the "rules" require them
> to
> > offer the meat cutters something or other.
>
>
> Why would you even bother with Giant ?, you can
> save about 35 to 40% by going to the Walmart
> another 5 minutes away. Open aisles, stocked
> shelves, no skateboarders or Stone road trash
> walking around shoplifting. Always walk up to an
> open cashier instead of waiting 10 minutes in line
> to watch a cashier walking the slow motion Green
> Mile as they do at Giant.

Reading comprehension FAIL!

The problem is meat WON't cost less, Giant is simply removing decent paying blue collar jobs from this area.

I forgot to note here that my wife is the one who grocery shops and she often goes to Shoppers Food Warehouse on the way home from work to get things like meats (not fish).

And donuts.

There is NO substitute for Shoppers' donuts so, while there, she often gets their extremely fresh meats as well (but usually not much else!).

We don't usually make separate Shoppers-only trips; go there pretty much only on the way home from somewhere else.

Comfort Food Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I forgot to note here that my wife is the one who
> grocery shops and she often goes to Shoppers Food
> Warehouse on the way home from work to get things
> like meats (not fish).
>
> And donuts.
>
> There is NO substitute for Shoppers' donuts so,
> while there, she often gets their extremely fresh
> meats as well (but usually not much else!).
>
> We don't usually make separate Shoppers-only
> trips; go there pretty much only on the way home
> from somewhere else.

For packaged or prepackaged foods, I go to Trader Joe's. Can't beat the prices and quality. For meats, I will go to Shoppers (as well for baked goods). I agree highly with comfort food!

For brand name products and fruit, I will go to safeway or food lion. If I want to stock up cheap fresh food, then I will go to an asian mart, but not often.

If trader joe's would come down on their highly expensive meat, i would shop there exclusively.

Read Much??? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wasting your hard earned money Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Comfort Food Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Alreadyhappening Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Meat cutters at your local Giant will be
> > > offered
> > > > other jobs in different areas of the store
> at
> > a
> > > > significant reduction in salary.
> > >
> > > Giant's a union shop (at least the one on
> Stone
> > > Road is) so I'd expect the "rules" require
> them
> > to
> > > offer the meat cutters something or other.
> >
> >
> > Why would you even bother with Giant ?, you can
> > save about 35 to 40% by going to the Walmart
> > another 5 minutes away. Open aisles, stocked
> > shelves, no skateboarders or Stone road trash
> > walking around shoplifting. Always walk up to
> an
> > open cashier instead of waiting 10 minutes in
> line
> > to watch a cashier walking the slow motion
> Green
> > Mile as they do at Giant.
>
> Reading comprehension FAIL!


The point was Giant is overpriced and filled with white trash, douchbag

you must work there Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Read Much??? Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > wasting your hard earned money Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Comfort Food Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Alreadyhappening Wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > >
> > > > -----
> > > > > Meat cutters at your local Giant will be
> > > > offered
> > > > > other jobs in different areas of the
> store
> > at
> > > a
> > > > > significant reduction in salary.
> > > >
> > > > Giant's a union shop (at least the one on
> > Stone
> > > > Road is) so I'd expect the "rules" require
> > them
> > > to
> > > > offer the meat cutters something or other.
> > >
> > >
> > > Why would you even bother with Giant ?, you
> can
> > > save about 35 to 40% by going to the Walmart
> > > another 5 minutes away. Open aisles, stocked
> > > shelves, no skateboarders or Stone road trash
> > > walking around shoplifting. Always walk up to
> > an
> > > open cashier instead of waiting 10 minutes in
> > line
> > > to watch a cashier walking the slow motion
> > Green
> > > Mile as they do at Giant.
> >
> > Reading comprehension FAIL!
>
>
> The point was Giant is overpriced and filled with
> white trash, douchbag

Cogently explaing a point.... EPIC FAIL!!!!

"The point was Giant is overpriced and filled with white trash, douchbag"

What Giant store has white employees and white customers, I'd love to shop there? Thanks.

Read much? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> you must work there Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Read Much??? Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > wasting your hard earned money Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Comfort Food Wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > >
> > > > -----
> > > > > Alreadyhappening Wrote:
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > > -----
> > > > > > Meat cutters at your local Giant will
> be
> > > > > offered
> > > > > > other jobs in different areas of the
> > store
> > > at
> > > > a
> > > > > > significant reduction in salary.
> > > > >
> > > > > Giant's a union shop (at least the one on
> > > Stone
> > > > > Road is) so I'd expect the "rules"
> require
> > > them
> > > > to
> > > > > offer the meat cutters something or
> other.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Why would you even bother with Giant ?, you
> > can
> > > > save about 35 to 40% by going to the
> Walmart
> > > > another 5 minutes away. Open aisles,
> stocked
> > > > shelves, no skateboarders or Stone road
> trash
> > > > walking around shoplifting. Always walk up
> to
> > > an
> > > > open cashier instead of waiting 10 minutes
> in
> > > line
> > > > to watch a cashier walking the slow motion
> > > Green
> > > > Mile as they do at Giant.
> > >
> > > Reading comprehension FAIL!
> >
> >
> > The point was Giant is overpriced and filled
> with
> > white trash, douchbag
>
> Cogently explaing a point.... EPIC FAIL!!!!


Lack of spelling ability.Much bigger fail.

Comfort Food Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Butchers are probably the highest paid Giant
> employees, I'd bet. They'll be "saving" a bundle
> by eliminating most of them.
>
> Initially.


That's all it is about. It will increase profits in the short term, boosting the share price. The middle-management dutch person in a cubicle in some building in the Netherlands who dreamed up this cost-saving idea will get a nice fat bonus.

If they don't hire illegals right from the start, they will in due time in order to lower costs even more for a further boost in share price down the road.

So not only will this area lose a few hundred employees who made livable wages and paid mortgages or rents and shopped and spent their money in this area, but Pennsylvania will gain thousands of low-paid, eventually undocumented workers.

So they've shifted more money out of this area, and placed a heavier social-welfare burden on the state of Pennsylvania. They get to reap the reward.

I forgot, as a bonus, it also further weakens unions! Awesome.

Well here is a surprise for you going to Shoppers, Giant is in the process of buying shoppers. Shoppers was the first chain to lay off their meat cutters in this area so they will too have prepackaged meat and forget the donuts, they will just be like the ones at Giant

The point here folks is Giant is laying off people right and left. There use to be over 25,000 employees at Giant and now it is below 11,000. Do you think this hurts the economy in this area? Giant use to be the best job around. You had to wait to get hired there. Now they can not find people to work there. It's a shame.

I've been a meatcutter for Giant from 1985 and they are just getting rid of us so they get bigger bonuses, that's is what drives Giant Food today. No matter, we do not have enough help to take care of the customer anyways and I'm tired of working my ass off 8 hours everyday because there is not enough help.

I just love the smell of carbon monoxide when I open my freezer.

Bill Kilgore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just love the smell of carbon monoxide when I
> open my freezer.

From the meat being hauled on trucks? OR do they put CO in the package to keep it "fresh"?

I know they add red food color to some packaged meats. Wouldn't surprise me if they pumped CO into the package, too.

Giant used to be hands down the best grocer in this area. The one off of Union Mill Rd. was incredible as well as the one in Fairfax where the Golfsmith is right now in Kamp Washington shopping center.

I've given up on Giant though, ever since they were bought by Ahold, they have gone downhill.

Harris Teeter is where I do all of my shopping now. On that note, do they truly have fresh meat?

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've been a meatcutter for Giant from 1985 and
> they are just getting rid of us so they get bigger
> bonuses, that's is what drives Giant Food today.

I'm pretty sure "they" are getting rid of you (well not really, because of the union) for the same reason any company does, to make themselves more competitive in the market. If they have gone from 25,000 to 11,000 as you say, they are obviously having issues, not giving themselves bigger bonuses. In fact, “they” probably had bigger bonuses before.

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well here is a surprise for you going to Shoppers,
> Giant is in the process of buying shoppers.
> Shoppers was the first chain to lay off their meat
> cutters in this area so they will too have
> prepackaged meat and forget the donuts, they will
> just be like the ones at Giant
>
> The point here folks is Giant is laying off people
> right and left. There use to be over 25,000
> employees at Giant and now it is below 11,000. Do
> you think this hurts the economy in this area?
> Giant use to be the best job around. You had to
> wait to get hired there. Now they can not find
> people to work there. It's a shame.
>
> I've been a meatcutter for Giant from 1985 and
> they are just getting rid of us so they get bigger
> bonuses, that's is what drives Giant Food today.
> No matter, we do not have enough help to take care
> of the customer anyways and I'm tired of working
> my ass off 8 hours everyday because there is not
> enough help.


A friend of mine used to work there years ago and bragged about all the perks and getting double and triple time to do a job that Mr. Jiggs the monkey could do. Your union just screwed you guys over like most do. If you think you are worth more than you really are, you are just kidding yourself in todays economy.

Vienna Native Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Giant used to be hands down the best grocer in
> this area. The one off of Union Mill Rd. was
> incredible as well as the one in Fairfax where the
> Golfsmith is right now in Kamp Washington shopping
> center.
>
> I've given up on Giant though, ever since they
> were bought by Ahold, they have gone downhill.
>
> Harris Teeter is where I do all of my shopping
> now. On that note, do they truly have fresh meat?

The Giant off Union Mill recently went through remodeling so they could squeeze in another junk food aisle - at the expense of the produce area, which now sucks. Sad.

Nope, Can not getting rid of me because of the union. For years when Izzy Cohen ran the company I often wondered "Why am I in the union" well now I'm so glad I am. If not I would be working 70 hours a week for the same wage. Ahold got rid of all our warehouses, truck drivers, warehouse workers, the main office in Landover, supervisors and all the small volume stores.
Nether YOU or Mr.Jigg's the monkey (my money would the monkey could do a better job then you) could do my job. It's a craft to cut meat the right way but it is becoming a lost art. And yes the union has gotten me great benifits over the years but how many of you would be willing to work 6 days a week, all weekends, nights and holidays? Not many. There are very few that could do my job but I'm sure I could do yours. I'm sure you could not even lift the meat I have to (Not talking about the 2 inch, quarter pounder in you pants)

I'm worth every dime they pay me

When Izzy was around and we had a ton of help Giant had 50% of the market and made 3 cents on every dollar. After Giant was sold to Ahold and they cut everything back, ran the customers away we now make 1 cent and have 30% of market. And we were always the highest in cost but also the best in the country at customer service

Ahold is all about the bottom dollar, THAT'S IT. Screw the workers

Any idea when this will begin? Sounds like this facility is being built from the ground up, so I imagine it will be sometime next summer at the earliest.

Wegman's. Accept no substitutes.

you must work there Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The point was Giant is... filled with
> white trash...

And Wal-Mart is not?

I don't see why people get so worked up about the clientele of one's grocery store. Giant (on Stone at least) is cleaner and well run compared to a lot of grocery stores around here. No one I know uses just one grocery store for all their purchases anyway; so sure, it might make some difference in where people buy meat but convenience is a huge factor - an extra 7 minutes each way (say 14 total) would be a big deal to me most days.

>
> Why would you even bother with Giant ?, you can
> save about 35 to 40% by going to the Walmart
> another 5 minutes away. Open aisles, stocked
> shelves, no skateboarders or Stone road trash
> walking around shoplifting. Always walk up to an
> open cashier instead of waiting 10 minutes in line
> to watch a cashier walking the slow motion Green
> Mile as they do at Giant.


wtf are you talking about?? ANY Walmart is probably the worst place on earth - open aisles?! More like crammed to the rafters with the most garbagey people in the immediate area. The adults walk blindly and aimlessly, shoving their way around then stopping to stand in the middle of the flow of foot traffic whenever they see fit. Meanwhile, the kids are running around ALSO running into people and impeding the flow of traffic. And shreiking at random. Not to mention the hideous quality of most of their products AND the ridiculous parking lots.

I mean, fuck giant too, I'm just saying.

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nope, Can not getting rid of me because of the
> union. For years when Izzy Cohen ran the company I
> often wondered "Why am I in the union" well now
> I'm so glad I am. If not I would be working 70
> hours a week for the same wage. Ahold got rid of
> all our warehouses, truck drivers, warehouse
> workers, the main office in Landover, supervisors
> and all the small volume stores.
> Nether YOU or Mr.Jigg's the monkey (my money would
> the monkey could do a better job then you) could
> do my job. It's a craft to cut meat the right way
> but it is becoming a lost art. And yes the union
> has gotten me great benifits over the years but
> how many of you would be willing to work 6 days a
> week, all weekends, nights and holidays? Not many.
> There are very few that could do my job but I'm
> sure I could do yours. I'm sure you could not even
> lift the meat I have to (Not talking about the 2
> inch, quarter pounder in you pants)
>
> I'm worth every dime they pay me
>
> When Izzy was around and we had a ton of help
> Giant had 50% of the market and made 3 cents on
> every dollar. After Giant was sold to Ahold and
> they cut everything back, ran the customers away
> we now make 1 cent and have 30% of market. And we
> were always the highest in cost but also the best
> in the country at customer service
>
> Ahold is all about the bottom dollar, THAT'S IT.
> Screw the workers

That appears to be how this country is shifting. Screw the workers, profit is all that matters.

Asian markets are cleaning are clock and all we do is retreat some more

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nope, Can not getting rid of me because of the
> union. For years when Izzy Cohen ran the company I
> often wondered "Why am I in the union" well now
> I'm so glad I am. If not I would be working 70
> hours a week for the same wage. Ahold got rid of
> all our warehouses, truck drivers, warehouse
> workers, the main office in Landover, supervisors
> and all the small volume stores.
> Nether YOU or Mr.Jigg's the monkey (my money would
> the monkey could do a better job then you) could
> do my job. It's a craft to cut meat the right way
> but it is becoming a lost art. And yes the union
> has gotten me great benifits over the years but
> how many of you would be willing to work 6 days a
> week, all weekends, nights and holidays? Not many.
> There are very few that could do my job but I'm
> sure I could do yours. I'm sure you could not even
> lift the meat I have to (Not talking about the 2
> inch, quarter pounder in you pants)
>
> I'm worth every dime they pay me
>
> When Izzy was around and we had a ton of help
> Giant had 50% of the market and made 3 cents on
> every dollar. After Giant was sold to Ahold and
> they cut everything back, ran the customers away
> we now make 1 cent and have 30% of market. And we
> were always the highest in cost but also the best
> in the country at customer service
>
> Ahold is all about the bottom dollar, THAT'S IT.
> Screw the workers


Well have fun working the fry vat next year, you should be a shoe in with that resume

Not that ether. Because of the great union contract I have I will retire with 30 years of service at the young age of 53 with full benifits. But I'm the type of worker most would die to have. How many 53 year olds can say they worked 30 years at the same place. Not many and I'm sure J Hoffa can not say that. You'll be working till your 70 to get.

Next Novenber is the plan to start the prepack. Giant just went thru a contact and it is for only 19 months which seemed strange at the time because most of our contracts were for 4 to 5 years but we now all know why. They have to change the contract to be able to have the meat cut elsewhere.

Yea, the union is screwing us. They are not helping the meatcutters at all. Most full time meatcutters were put down to part time last december and the union did nothing.

Journeymab Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not that ether. Because of the great union
> contract I have I will retire with 30 years of
> service at the young age of 53 with full benifits.
> But I'm the type of worker most would die to have.
> How many 53 year olds can say they worked 30 years
> at the same place. Not many and I'm sure J Hoffa
> can not say that. You'll be working till your 70
> to get.
>

Yeah, good luck with that. How many employers want to hire a 30 year union drone who has done nothing else with their life.

Your retirement and benefits are only as good as your plan is funded. Half of those union pension plans are run on a pay as you go basis. So, unless they have a continuing increase in new participants paying in, well...


> Next Novenber is the plan to start the prepack.
> Giant just went thru a contact and it is for only
> 19 months which seemed strange at the time because
> most of our contracts were for 4 to 5 years but we
> now all know why. They have to change the contract
> to be able to have the meat cut elsewhere.
>
> Yea, the union is screwing us. They are not
> helping the meatcutters at all. Most full time
> meatcutters were put down to part time last
> december and the union did nothing.


Don't worry, the union execs will still have their fat salaries which you guys pay.

Journeymab Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not that ether. Because of the great union
> contract I have I will retire with 30 years of
> service at the young age of 53 with full benifits.
> But I'm the type of worker most would die to have.
> How many 53 year olds can say they worked 30 years
> at the same place. Not many and I'm sure J Hoffa
> can not say that. You'll be working till your 70
> to get.
>
> Next Novenber is the plan to start the prepack.
> Giant just went thru a contact and it is for only
> 19 months which seemed strange at the time because
> most of our contracts were for 4 to 5 years but we
> now all know why. They have to change the contract
> to be able to have the meat cut elsewhere.
>
> Yea, the union is screwing us. They are not
> helping the meatcutters at all. Most full time
> meatcutters were put down to part time last
> december and the union did nothing.


At least you'll have a year to tell your customers they'll have to go to the competition to get a piece of meat that wasn't cut the week before.

Journeymab Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yea, the union is screwing us. They are not
> helping the meatcutters at all.

You just got finished explaining how great the union benefits are and how glad you are to be in one. Which is it guy?

Seems to me if you don't like working at Giant, you should find another job. Contrary to you high opinion of your work and skills, they don't owe you a living.

Right2Work Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
>
> Yeah, good luck with that. How many employers
> want to hire a 30 year union drone who has done
> nothing else with their life.
>

None that listen to Rush Limbaugh, obviously. But not everyone is an idiot.

If he is a meat cutter like he said, he's not some lazy union drone like you've been led to believe every union member is.

There are certain types of work where you are either producing or not, regardless of union status. Nursing, Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and jobs like meat cutters, delivery drivers, and others who have measurable productivity outputs.


> Your retirement and benefits are only as good as
> your plan is funded. Half of those union pension
> plans are run on a pay as you go basis. So,
> unless they have a continuing increase in new
> participants paying in, well...
>

If they are, then they are in violation of federal law.

Why do I suspect this is yet another silly talking point by Rush and his ilk? Pensions are not "pay as you go". If they are defined contribution plans, then the employee has fully funded his own pension. If they are defined benefits plans, then the employer is required to maintain funding for all current liabilities.

If they were "pay as you go" as in they simply used current employee or employer contributions to pay out to current retirees, they would be in violation of ERISA and PPA statutes.

>
>
> Don't worry, the union execs will still have their
> fat salaries which you guys pay.

No argument there.

Yer a dittohead moron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Right2Work Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > >
> >
> > Yeah, good luck with that. How many employers
> > want to hire a 30 year union drone who has done
> > nothing else with their life.
> >
>
> None that listen to Rush Limbaugh, obviously. But
> not everyone is an idiot.
>
> If he is a meat cutter like he said, he's not some
> lazy union drone like you've been led to believe
> every union member is.
>
> There are certain types of work where you are
> either producing or not, regardless of union
> status. Nursing, Law Enforcement, Firefighters,
> and jobs like meat cutters, delivery drivers, and
> others who have measurable productivity outputs.


Wouldn't know, don't think that I've ever actually listened to him.

I do run a production-based company though and I know that just based on resume alone, I'd likely pass on that one. You might be able to convince me otherwise in the case of a given individual but you're probably not going to get a chance.


> > Your retirement and benefits are only as good
> as
> > your plan is funded. Half of those union
> pension
> > plans are run on a pay as you go basis. So,
> > unless they have a continuing increase in new
> > participants paying in, well...
> >
>
> If they are, then they are in violation of federal
> law.
>
> Why do I suspect this is yet another silly talking
> point by Rush and his ilk? Pensions are not "pay
> as you go". If they are defined contribution
> plans, then the employee has fully funded his own
> pension. If they are defined benefits plans, then
> the employer is required to maintain funding for
> all current liabilities.
>
> If they were "pay as you go" as in they simply
> used current employee or employer contributions to
> pay out to current retirees, they would be in
> violation of ERISA and PPA statutes.
>


Read and weep among many other examples of articles addressing the extent of under-funding for multi-employer plans:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203604577393941108053800.html

The benefits plans in particular often are run pay as you go. They may not be funded directly by new participants, but given the case of a union-managed fund, they effectively are since the union has little or no other income stream beyond dues and contributions from affiliated groups which also mostly rely on dues.

Journeymab Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Next Novenber is the plan to start the prepack.
> Giant just went thru a contact and it is for only
> 19 months which seemed strange at the time because
> most of our contracts were for 4 to 5 years but we
> now all know why. They have to change the contract
> to be able to have the meat cut elsewhere.
>


UFCW Locals 400, 27 Ink New 18-Month Labor Agreements With Giant, Safeway

Published in FOOD WORLD, April 2012

There is labor peace in the Baltimore-Washington market for the region’s two largest chains – Giant/Landover and Safeway – but the contractual timeline for peace could be historically short.

On April 3, members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 (Washington) and 27 (Baltimore, Eastern Shore) approved new contracts with Giant and Safeway affecting approximately 30,000 retail clerks and meatcutters from those two supermarket chains.

However, unlike the typical four year deals that have been struck between the parties, the pacts are for only18 months.

By itself the shortened agreement is big news. And the reason for such a narrow window: uncertainties about the costs and direction of the Affordable Health Care Act (“Obamacare”), signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010 and currently being challenged before the United States Supreme Court.

Several sources told us that since many of the changes of “Obamacare” won’t go into effect until 2014, neither side felt comfortable making long-term health cost projections at this juncture. So, by October 2013 both retailers and both UFCW Locals will have to try to hammer out new agreements.

I can't wait for Obamacare to kick in!

I keep reading about all the thriving companies that are going to throw in the towel. Where have we heard this shit before? Hell, I remember the Big 3 whining that they would be out of business if the big bad gubmint forced them to put seat belts in their cars.

Bullshit then and bullshit now!

However, if thousands of companies really do go out of business because of Obamacare, there's going to be a LOT of opportunities for guys like me out there!

Bring it on!

Are you sure this ain't about Giant-Carlisle dropping the butchers instead of Giant-Landover? I haven't bought meat at a Giant in years except for Italian Sausage but the price of those have shot up from $3.99 to $5.49 in two years and the sausages are smaller than they use be too, Anyways I asked this long time employee at my local Giant, at least 20+ years of service at this store a big rarity these days, and she said they had dropped the butchers a number of years ago and the meat came in already pre cut from Landover.

I might add this Giant had a small number of long time white employees but they all seemed to dissapear about a year ago and no they weren't retirement age. Not a single white employee in the store anymore except the store manager who I've never seen.( Maybe a night stocker is white . Have seen a number of whites working the night shift stocking at Safeway but none during the day anymore. A few whites still work at McLean Giant) In the old days you'd see a store manager all the time.

Heidi died a few years back from a broken heart over the big decline in the quality of baked goods at Giant.

Is Gieant buying Richfood or just Shoppers? the last grocery store too maybe find a decent donut and thats hit or miss

Glad any time we hear of overpaid, lazy, do-nothing union types getting canned. Notice that all the stores saddled with unions suck. They will all eventually fail altogether. Notice also that Wegmans, a non-union shop, has employees with far better work ethic and attitudes.

Giant worked great as a union shop for years till AHOLD took over

obviously Jay Galt hates the middle class the backbone of a once great nation

Factoid: The butcher at Wegman's told me that the meat behind the counter and the pre-packaged were exactly the same, even same price. But the pre-packaged is vacuum packed out of the store and has a longer shelf life.

No reason for most people to buy the butcher-wrapped meat.

Wegman's meat is vacuumed packed out of New York and shipped to the stores. He was bull shitting you so you wouldn't think there was a difference. i'm in the business ,junior. When you know what you are talking about and don't have rely on being told, that's a fact.

I'm curious about "the difference".

Since =ALL= I care about as a meat-buying consumer is the quality/freshness of the meat relative to pricing, I literally do not care if the cow was killed in Kansas City or Chicago, chopped into little pieces, packaged, and trucked to a distribution center, then trucked out to individual retail distribution centers, then trucked to individual stores.

Oh.

Wait.

That IS the way it's been happening for a century or so, right? (see The Jungle...)

So...uh...what's different with the projected scenario?

From what I've read (admittedly not a whole lot) the only difference is that some final cuts are planned to be made at one of the distribution centers instead of at the retail outlet.

Is this a major concern for a consumer who just buys what's on the shelves anyway?

It's not appearing to me to be so.

entrepeneur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can't wait for Obamacare to kick in!
>
> I keep reading about all the thriving companies
> that are going to throw in the towel. Where have
> we heard this shit before? Hell, I remember the
> Big 3 whining that they would be out of business
> if the big bad gubmint forced them to put seat
> belts in their cars.
>
> Bullshit then and bullshit now!
>
> However, if thousands of companies really do go
> out of business because of Obamacare, there's
> going to be a LOT of opportunities for guys like
> me out there!
>
> Bring it on!


EXACTLY!
That is what the repubs do not see. They are selfish and short sighted.
Obamacare will make things better for every single American in the long run.

Comfort Food Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm curious about "the difference".
>
> Since =ALL= I care about as a meat-buying consumer
> is the quality/freshness of the meat relative to
> pricing, I literally do not care if the cow was
> killed in Kansas City or Chicago, chopped into
> little pieces, packaged, and trucked to a
> distribution center, then trucked out to
> individual retail distribution centers, then
> trucked to individual stores.
>
> Oh.
>
> Wait.
>
> That IS the way it's been happening for a century
> or so, right? (see The Jungle...)
>
> So...uh...what's different with the projected
> scenario?
>
> From what I've read (admittedly not a whole lot)
> the only difference is that some final cuts are
> planned to be made at one of the distribution
> centers instead of at the retail outlet.
>
> Is this a major concern for a consumer who just
> buys what's on the shelves anyway?
>
> It's not appearing to me to be so.


I guess some people like a personal connection to those they do business with, like having a personal barber. Businesses today try to appear to care personally about a customer but it's just a company policy to say hello. Stores employ mystery shoppers to report on employees, to make sure (and intimidate) they pretend to give a shit. A butcher, mechanic, plumber is a professional who gives a personal connection to the service you receive.
You seem to be the kind of person who will walk into the first barbershop you see and have your car work done at Jiffy Lube. Some people have standards. Don't worry, you seem to thick to know what you're missing anyway.

Comfort Food Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Butcher Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ...Giant is doing away with fresh cut meats...
>
> Wow, is that right?
>
> We get most of our meat from either Costco or one
> of the gajillion Asian markets but, on occasion,
> from Giant, too.
>
> No more!
>
> ==========
>
> Butchers are probably the highest paid Giant
> employees, I'd bet. They'll be "saving" a bundle
> by eliminating most of them.
>
> Initially.


gajillion Asian markets = Asian DOG meat markets

For those going to Wegmans, their meat has ALWAYS been precut and wrapped meat. The only meat they cut in store is in the service case. This is the way america is going. ALL Pre Pack meat. It will be hard to find a butcher in 10 years so get use to it or Complain to your stores that this is NOT what you want. That this is unacceptacle to you and you will take your busness elsewhere if they do this.
You the consumer can stop this but you have to make a stand and let it be known (besides on this forum) Safeway has had pre pack lamb and veal for years and I'm sure they will be right behind Giant with Red meat. Shoppers is up for sale and Giant is interested so they will become Giant as Giant became Stop & Shop. Asian market?? Are you sure that is a cow your are getting? I'm not. Cosco & BJ Meat looks like it been cut with a chainsaw. If that is what you want go for it. Good SELECT beef not USDA Choice
Giant's with the service meat counters will still cut in store for those but the only meatcutter will be the meat manager so you will only be able to get special cuts 8 hours a day. To tell you the truth, it's that way anyways as most stores the only meatcutter left is the meat manager.
Giant has been going down hill, consumers have let this happen. If they complained more or just left to shop elsewhere Giant would have had to do something. They are fine as long as their bottom dollar is not effected. If it is and they do not get their bonuses THEN they would do something. THAT IS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT.
In the old days with Izzy We cared about the customers and we took care of them and in turn you took care of us by shopping at Giant. I thank you all. We were the Top Dog in Washington DC area and Giant took care of us. We are still Top Dog but we are not taken care of. I have worked many years for this company. Helped make it what it was and Ahold came in and detroyed what we build for what? MONEY in their pockets. Giant use to be what made america great, now they are what is destroying america. Greed
And you little assholes can come on here and say all your stupid remarks but people need to know what is going on at Giant. That's all

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For those going to Wegmans, their meat has ALWAYS
> been precut and wrapped meat. The only meat they
> cut in store is in the service case. This is the
> way america is going. ALL Pre Pack meat. It will
> be hard to find a butcher in 10 years so get use
> to it or Complain to your stores that this is NOT
> what you want. That this is unacceptacle to you
> and you will take your busness elsewhere if they
> do this.
> You the consumer can stop this but you have to
> make a stand and let it be known (besides on this
> forum) Safeway has had pre pack lamb and veal for
> years and I'm sure they will be right behind Giant
> with Red meat. Shoppers is up for sale and Giant
> is interested so they will become Giant as Giant
> became Stop & Shop. Asian market?? Are you sure
> that is a cow your are getting? I'm not. Cosco &
> BJ Meat looks like it been cut with a chainsaw. If
> that is what you want go for it. Good SELECT beef
> not USDA Choice
> Giant's with the service meat counters will still
> cut in store for those but the only meatcutter
> will be the meat manager so you will only be able
> to get special cuts 8 hours a day. To tell you the
> truth, it's that way anyways as most stores the
> only meatcutter left is the meat manager.
> Giant has been going down hill, consumers have let
> this happen. If they complained more or just left
> to shop elsewhere Giant would have had to do
> something. They are fine as long as their bottom
> dollar is not effected. If it is and they do not
> get their bonuses THEN they would do something.
> THAT IS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT.
> In the old days with Izzy We cared about the
> customers and we took care of them and in turn you
> took care of us by shopping at Giant. I thank you
> all. We were the Top Dog in Washington DC area and
> Giant took care of us. We are still Top Dog but we
> are not taken care of. I have worked many years
> for this company. Helped make it what it was and
> Ahold came in and detroyed what we build for what?
> MONEY in their pockets. Giant use to be what made
> america great, now they are what is destroying
> america. Greed
> And you little assholes can come on here and say
> all your stupid remarks but people need to know
> what is going on at Giant. That's all


Say what???
Giant food jumped the shark in the mid 90's. Every single giant food is an absolute shithole. At least Food lion has stores small enough to get in and out of in a hurry for convenience sake.
Giant cant even come remotely close to the quality of weggies or hairy teets.
Bottom line is that Giant has slightly below average goods and way below average service. Every few months I go to giant for one reason or another and I am again reminded that it is just not worth the time and aggravation. Giant was king in the 70's and 80's but they just did not keep up with the times.

Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess some people like a personal connection to
> those they do business with...

!!!

In more than half a century I've interacted with a person behind the meat counter about twice.

That's a "personal connection" that really isn't going to be missed.

Certainly there's a better response than that - or the ad hominem?

Then again probably not, huh? That's why you gave the lame response you did and the "personal connection" is getting shut down; there really ISN'T any reason for it to continue.

I have noticed giant meat to be kinda rancid. I never buy meat,chicken or anything elses from giant.

Priapus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wegman's meat is vacuumed packed out of New York
> and shipped to the stores. He was bull shitting
> you so you wouldn't think there was a difference.
> i'm in the business ,junior. When you know what
> you are talking about and don't have rely on being
> told, that's a fact.


Are you saying that the meat behind the counter is also vacuum packed and they just open it up like they do at the deli?

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------


> If
> that is what you want go for it. Good SELECT beef
> not USDA Choice

What is the difference?

FUCK YOU

Select is a grade of meat that has less fat, marbling, body so it's less tender. Choice has more fat, marbling so ore tender and flavor. Flavor and tenderness come from the fat in meat
Giant use to sell select along with choice and prime but got rid of select because it was not the quality we wanted to sell. Our choice meat was top of the line during the Izzy years but now is not as good. At times we get in top quality but rare. CAB is type of cow that marbles young so is more flavorful and tender. In the old days all the CAB was the same size cow so the eyes of the meat was consistent. Do not think ahold evens knows what this is. Now all over the place but CAB is better

PISS OFF

grocery getter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Say what???
> Giant food jumped the shark in the mid 90's. Every
> single giant food is an absolute shithole. At
> least Food lion has stores small enough to get in
> and out of in a hurry for convenience sake.
> Giant cant even come remotely close to the quality
> of weggies or hairy teets.
> Bottom line is that Giant has slightly below
> average goods and way below average service. Every
> few months I go to giant for one reason or another
> and I am again reminded that it is just not worth
> the time and aggravation. Giant was king in the
> 70's and 80's but they just did not keep up with
> the times.

Food Lion lost me for good when an investigation revealed how it bleached its meat.

Young Curmudgeon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> grocery getter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Say what???
> > Giant food jumped the shark in the mid 90's.
> Every
> > single giant food is an absolute shithole. At
> > least Food lion has stores small enough to get
> in
> > and out of in a hurry for convenience sake.
> > Giant cant even come remotely close to the
> quality
> > of weggies or hairy teets.
> > Bottom line is that Giant has slightly below
> > average goods and way below average service.
> Every
> > few months I go to giant for one reason or
> another
> > and I am again reminded that it is just not
> worth
> > the time and aggravation. Giant was king in the
> > 70's and 80's but they just did not keep up
> with
> > the times.
>
> Food Lion lost me for good when an investigation
> revealed how it bleached its meat.


Yeah I hear you. I am not a regular lion shopper but their stores are easy to get in and out of. On my way home from work I can stop and get a 12 pack of beer, some sandwich bags and a bag of dog food in like 9 minutes. That is not possible at other stores.

Giant routinely adds water to its meat and pork to increase its weight. The also add bleach to their fish, scallops and shrimp to give them an extra day or two to sell.

Wegman's pre-packages meat as well, but all Wegman's have a butcher counter where you can get fresh cut meats. Giant has very few butcher counters and will be getting rid of all these counters when the processing plant opens. Fresh Seafood counters will also be eliminated.

AddH2O Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Giant routinely adds water to its meat and pork to
> increase its weight. The also add bleach to their
> fish, scallops and shrimp to give them an extra
> day or two to sell.

So that ends when they get rid of their meat cutters/fish mongers sometime in the future?

Yeah always liked Food Lion for generally being able to get in and out fairly quickly and they haven't gone to the huge stores like Giant. To me its Safeway that's champs at having the longest lines and doing nothing at all about it. I've often seen managers sitting there in the office perfectly able to see long lines and just ignoring it. they do seem to be a "little" better job in the last year or so. But look out if you go to Safeway after 10p.m. Of course Walmart also drastically cuts back cashiers even if lots of folks in the grocery section.

Uh-oh Food Lion. I was in a Food Lion yesterday and perusing the baked goods when I heard a huge sneeze from the bakery. Asian guy had sneezed right into a bowl of bread dough or something he was mixing . He wiped his hand on his nose and dried his hand by wiping it in his armpit. Went on with his baking without a glance around .

On the other hand discoverd a new product under the Food Lion in house Essentials line. The re pakaged Honey Buns are delicious

AddH2O Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Giant routinely adds water to its meat and pork to
> increase its weight. The also add bleach to their
> fish, scallops and shrimp to give them an extra
> day or two to sell.

All companies add water to meat and pork to increase its weight. Well, I'm glad I don't buy any seafood there.

Prepackaged meat = irradiated meat (they've got to find something to do with all that nuclear waste they are'nt allowed to store anywhere when the storage locations fill up)! Another solution to the "overpopulation problem"--let'm eat radiation! That is why the meat will be able to stay normal looking a month after it gets "pre-processed"--no bacteria will go near that stuff! And if it looks normal, all the sheeple will gobble it up. Anyone know what the shelf life for radiation-dosed meat products might be?

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e9aa/

Very sorry to hear that life-long Giant meatcutters are losing their jobs. These guys make a difference in a grocery store. Unfortunately today, most shoppers don't even know how to ask for a 'shoulder' of veal or some special cut, so the demands on butchers are less and less. Really a shame, since cuts of meat really make a difference. Read julia child or any older cookbook and you'll see discussions on cuts you've never heard of! Crap. I can't even get small bones for my dog anymore. Move over comrade, what are they giving us today?

Yea, back in the day Giant and Safeway were the only game in town around here. I exclusively shopped at Giant but when Izzy died, Giant Food went into the toilet and I started to hate Giant - his lost influence was instantly felt.
Frankly Giant was never that great - no food store in the Metro area was ever great, though there was a cult following for Magruder's in Vienna - it was really about prices, not quality.
Giant lost its hold on the area when Ahold took over and ignored the chain, left it dangling. At that weak point, Wegmans happened to move in and we suddenly had access to groceries and quality that we never saw in this area ever before. I was at the Dulles Wegmans opening day, and the crowd was shoulder to shoulder from one side of the store to the other. People were ready for a real European-style grocery! The breads! the cheeses! Italian meats!
The Giant here? You can shoot a cannon and not hit anybody. sigh.

I remember IGA, Kroger, A&P - all of them and all the stores were just groaners.
Food Lion is crappy unless you like foods laden with fake sugar, HFCs GMO/pesticides, MSG, artificial ingredients, hydrogenated fats and barely anything resembling organic variety - their bread choices are a nightmarish selection of sponges. Asian groceries stink which reflects their cleanliness nor can you trust their sources [seafood grown in banned nuclear waters, anyone?].

Wegmans brought in really fantastic foods, variety and quality, their own label typically has less additives than the major brands - and overall is cheaper than Shopper's Food Warehouse. If you get the fancy stuff, well, yea, then you will spend more.
As far as the butcher service, you can get meats cut for you there - but not anything fancy. As I understand it, the cow is cut up centrally and the large pieces are sent to the stores to be cut and packaged. yea some is prepacked like the dry-aged vaccum stuff.

I'd say Giant is failing at market share here in the area. I now find Harris Teeter a much better store than Giant and go there for the southern-type foods that Wegmans doesn't have, like more varieties of frozen beans and frozen dinner rolls, and pimento cheese, or even a can of Glory greens or something.

Gaint has improved lately but not enough. And they see the Obamacare penalties/tax burdens rising. Many companies are announcing huge increases in benefits costs. So with insufficient income and rising costs, they must centralize in spite of the awareness that a butcher is an extra benefit that other stores aren't offering. I'm pretty sure they don't relish the thought of getting rid of one of the few differentiators in the local market.

Maybe there's a purpose, but the unions add a financial burden to any business. Wegman's is non-union and I know a few people employed by them, and they really love the company.
Safeway is union and has always been outrageously expensive. I never shop there unless its a product that I absolutely cannot find anywhere else.

I wonder if the irradiation of meat has anything to do with the whole prepackaged thing as well. Irradiated meat eliminates any potential for ecoli or other bacteria in the meat. This bacteria is becoming more and more of a problem. Wegman's irradiates all of their meat.

EYD6T Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e9aa/

LOL!!

why do you think Wegman's irradiates all their meat. Its federal law that irradiated meat has to be labeled, so the only irradiated meat they sell is visibly labeled, and there is very little of it.

AddH2O Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Giant routinely adds water to its meat and pork to
> increase its weight. The also add bleach to their
> fish, scallops and shrimp to give them an extra
> day or two to sell.
>
> Wegman's pre-packages meat as well, but all
> Wegman's have a butcher counter where you can get
> fresh cut meats. Giant has very few butcher
> counters and will be getting rid of all these
> counters when the processing plant opens. Fresh
> Seafood counters will also be eliminated.
What are you talking about?? We do not add water to our meat. If this was bring done all the packages would be soaking wet. You robot know what you are talking about. Same with the seafood. Many giants do have counters and are keeping them when the package meat comes in. You do not know what you are talking about

Did Giant recently change their chicken processor when they changed the packaging? The new chicken looks like it was cut up at lighthouse for the blind. It's terrible.

Mixed feelings about the meat counter. Years ago we used to only go to one Giant in the area because of their butcher, but lately you go in and there is a sign saying the meat counter is open until 7 or 8 and they're closed and gone by 5.

Yes about a month ago new company processing our chickens. Yes my store has same sign full service till 7:00pm but I leave at 3:00 and no cutter after me. Their way to cut hours.

Go to the Giant at University Mall. Then go either to Wegman's or Whole Foods. Only an idiot would ever regularly shop at the Giant again with its overpaid union thugs and filthy aisles of rotten food. Good riddance Obama-loving union commies! You'll probably prefer collecting unemployment to working for a paycheck anyway!

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes about a month ago new company processing our
> chickens. Yes my store has same sign full service
> till 7:00pm but I leave at 3:00 and no cutter
> after me. Their way to cut hours.


Pilgrims Pride?

Giant hasn't been the same since the days when they had sides of beef hanging in the meat room. When 4-5 meat cutters would carve those sides into steaks and roasts. When the meat room was longer than the counter. When they ground their own ground beef. When you walked up to the counter and the butcher would side one of those windows open to help you or to stock the case, or for the butchers to look through at the women in low cut tops bending over while they looked at steaks. They never have a selection now that is any good and the steaks are tasteless. I go to Harris Teeter now. Better, but not like the good old days.

Giant Killer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Go to the Giant at University Mall. Then go
> either to Wegman's or Whole Foods. Only an idiot
> would ever regularly shop at the Giant again with
> its overpaid union thugs and filthy aisles of
> rotten food. Good riddance Obama-loving union
> commies! You'll probably prefer collecting
> unemployment to working for a paycheck anyway!


Agreed, overall Giant sucks, employyees too busy bitching to one another to help you and way overpriced food. My family were customers for 50 years but no longer

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Select is a grade of meat that has less fat,
> marbling, body so it's less tender.

So it is leaner and healthier?

> Choice has
> more fat, marbling so more tender and flavor.

Then what is Prime?

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes about a month ago new company processing our
> chickens. Yes my store has same sign full service
> till 7:00pm but I leave at 3:00 and no cutter
> after me. Their way to cut hours.

Why did they stop stocking bone-in skin-on chicken breasts? Not happy.

A Question Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yes about a month ago new company processing
> our
> > chickens. Yes my store has same sign full
> service
> > till 7:00pm but I leave at 3:00 and no cutter
> > after me. Their way to cut hours.
>
> Why did they stop stocking bone-in skin-on chicken
> breasts? Not happy.


Oh you are "Not happy" ?
Go kill and process your own chickens then.

Nobody cares that you are "Not happy"

A Question Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Why did they stop stocking bone-in skin-on chicken
> breasts? Not happy.


They still have it, down by the organic meats. It's "Amish Pride" or something like that. It's more expensive than the normal stuff, but if you're grilling it's worth getting the bone-in.

>
> Why did they stop stocking bone-in skin-on chicken
> breasts? Not happy.

We still have Bone in chicken breast regular pack. We do not have them in Value pack anymore

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nether YOU or Mr.Jigg's the monkey (my money would
> the monkey could do a better job then you) could
> do my job. It's a craft to cut meat the right way
> but it is becoming a lost art. And yes the union
> has gotten me great benifits over the years but
> how many of you would be willing to work 6 days a
> week, all weekends, nights and holidays? Not many.
> There are very few that could do my job but I'm
> sure I could do yours. I'm sure you could not even
> lift the meat I have to (Not talking about the 2
> inch, quarter pounder in you pants)
>
> I'm worth every dime they pay me

Back when the economy went south, lost a ton of money in the market, wife stopped working, yada, yada, I started to cut my own meat to save money. Started butchering chickens for parts, cutting large portions of meat, etc.

You are INDEED worth every penny they pay you. It is indeed a craft. After so many years of doing my own cutting, my cuts still don't look as good as what I used to pay to get done by the butchers, in the supermarkets.

Don't let people who have never done anything for themselves (IE white collar workers), get your goat (and I am a white collar worker). Blue collar workers are a very undervalued part of our society and deserve better pay, just as we want for those who serve our country. People just don't realize how we ALL work together to make this country work and not just those in the top tier of government.

I've noticed that Wegmans is also pre-packaging selected portions of meat and cheese from their deli and putting them in a refrigerated case across from the deli.

It's probably not the same type of pre-packaging you're talking about. But it's very convenient if you want, say a 1/2 pound of sliced turkey and don't want to wait in line for it.

Giant and Safeway will both be announcing numerous store closings in NOVA early next year. Several smaller Giants will close. For example in West Springfield/Burke there are 6 Giants within a 5 mile radius of each other.

So you won't have to worry about fresh cut meat, when your nearby Giant is shuttered.

Storeclosings Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Giant and Safeway will both be announcing numerous
> store closings in NOVA early next year. Several
> smaller Giants will close. For example in West
> Springfield/Burke there are 6 Giants within a 5
> mile radius of each other.
>
> So you won't have to worry about fresh cut meat,
> when your nearby Giant is shuttered.


good writtens

Generally speaking, are local butcher shops better - like Springfield Butcher - than the grocery stores?
Check out a documentary called "Food, Inc." if you want to see how our food supply really works.

Their new motto is you cant beat our prices but you can always beat our meat.

Springfield Butcher has some good stuff, but you have to watch how their employees handle your food. They usually do not wash their hands or put on new plastic food handling gloves bewteen customers. I walked out when one of the ladies working there refused to wash her hands after handling raw chicken for the customer before me. She said as long as I cook the meat properly, it doesn't matter what she touched before helping me.

Also, some of their meat looks like its been in the case way too long. They called it dry aging. Yeah, right.

Yes!
No
<Does Giant still grind its own meat? Yes, Giant grinds thier meat trim daily to provide its customers with 2 options. Option one: the trim ground is the equivalent of ground chuck and has a relative fat content of 80 percent lean to 20% fat and option 2: is to have the butcher grind a piece of meat for you.
<What kind of meat does Giant offer over the competitors? Giant only buys the highest yield(grade) of USDA Choice beef which is fat marlbed well for tenderness and flavor. Angus from Giant is Certified USDA black Angus which goes through 13 point inspection process to be considered and only 1 out of 20 Angus steers makes the grade. Two examples of the grading of Black Angus is the hide of that steer has to be 50% black or more and the yield has to be graded a 5 which is a high quality.
<What is Prime? Prime refers to the highest graded beef. Grading is done in the rib area of the cow and Prime has the most marble and is the most tender of beef.Because of it's cost only certain Giants can offer it to its customers like MCLean
<Why is meat sometimes brown looking and not red like hamburger is brown in the middle? Meat is never red it is actually brown in color. A process called natural oxygenation occurs when oxygen comes in contact with blood it turns red.Yes,human blood is brown and not red as is a cows blood. When let's say hamburger is wrapped at store level the wrap is unlike saran wrap but the meat wrap used is specially formulated to allow air to pass through it allowing the blood which comes to the surface to remain red while the center or bottom gets depleated of oxygen and remains brown.
<Aging of beef? Beef is hung or aged only in a primal state with all fat still present on the carcass for periods as long as 45 days. This process allows the blood to draw from the meat making it super tender and in no way causes the meat to go bad. Giant's meat is fresh killed and packed for freshness and never is aged out 30 days. This allows for a quality product while still alowing the meat to remain in a red state longer so it looks more apealing to the consumer.
<Is Giant getting rid of meatcutters? Giant has no plans on getting rid of meatcutters. However, Giant does plan on going to a prepackaged meat and will be offered in our small market stores for convience. Remodels will be under way to add the butcher counters into our productive stores and the remaining meatcutters may be moved around to add more service behind said counters.The counter will offer a variety of the most requested items carried along with main sale meats. Giant used to train meat cutters for its stores and stopped after funding for employment training reimbursement was removed in the Bush administration as a cutback in programs.
<Why is Giant changing its meat program? In order to compete in the market share Giant has made changes to stay a top of the market by offering items that appeal to our customers who are shopping else where.
<Who regulates the Grocery industry? The United States Department of Agriculture oversees operations and code dating and including health standards.
<Is my Giant store clean? Giant has an internal food and safety team which checks each of our stores for cleanliness and safety issues on a regular basis.These visits are unannounced and if violations occur they are taken serious and all corrections are made immediately!!!
I heard someone say my meatcutter is a hybrid. What is that all about? Giant looked at the business side of things and made a change to a bunch of meatcutters. We determined that we were overpaying in the long run and not getting the value out of the meatcutter because they wern't actually cutting meat but putting items in the cases and stocking things on the shelves and were getting paid a higher rate of pay and really these are the duties of a clerk so a significant number of meatcutters were made "hybrid Clerks" thus allowing us to save money to reinvest in Giant. For example a meatcutter only really is on the block 6 hours a day cutting meat and the rest he is filling the cases or actually wrapping meat then he is paid accordingly 6 hours at cutter pay and 2 hours as a wrapper thus saving the company a lot of money and creating no layoffs for our employees. Did Giant want to do this? No, absolutely not but to stay competitive in this market we had no other choice.
Is prepacked meat safe? Yes,it does however contain in some cases gases in the package and color may be added in other cases for extending the shelf life. Turkey sausage has been produced like this with gases for years now and it is safe to eat.
<What is pink slime? is it in Giant's prepacked ground beef. Yes it is but not all our grinds have pink slime. Pink slime refers to mechanically separated and disinfected beef products known in the meat industry as lean finely textured beef (LFTB) and boneless lean beef trimmings (BLBT). It is also known by the dysphemistic slang term soylent pink. It is a processed beef product that was originally used only in pet food and cooking oil and was not approved for human consumption. In 2001 in the United States the product was approved for limited human consumption and began to be used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats as a filler at a ratio of usually no more than 25 percent of any product. The production process uses heat in centrifuges to separate the fat from the meat in beef trimmings. The resulting product is exposed to ammonia gas or citric acid to kill bacteria.
The product is sold in the U.S. to food companies which use it as a filler product in ground beef production. It was reported in March 2012 that approximately 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contained the additive at that time. In March 2012, ABC News ran a series of news reports about the product, which generated significant controversy and led to increased consumer concerns. Following the controversy, some companies and organizations discontinued the provision of ground beef with the additive, while others continued to provide beef with the filler.* source by Wikipedia
Giant does grind fresh trim and carries a product which is all natural known as Lauras ground beef which has a fat content of 92% lean and 8% fat.

Too long a post to bother reading. Try again, with edits for brevity.

The post above has to much to it to quote but the parts about not getting rid of meat cutters at Giant is a bunch of BS. Bottom line meat cutters make the most $$ of retail employees. Store are run on budgets of $$ not hours so getting rid of cutters for 1 hour = 3 one hour shifts if the clerks. It's ALL about money and making their bonuses bigger. Not about better service for the customers. Less service for the customers. Lies,Lies and more lies. That is all giant knows

"For example a meatcutter only really is on the block 6 hours a day cutting meat and the rest he is filling the cases or actually wrapping meat then he is paid accordingly 6 hours at cutter pay and 2 hours as a wrapper thus saving the company a lot of money and creating no layoffs for our employees. Did Giant want to do this? No, absolutely not but to stay competitive in this market we had no other choice."


This is so wrong. Meat cutters always did other things besides standing at a counter cutting meat. They got paid more for their skills, not for the time they spent using those skills. This game of cost-cutting only works because people have been manipulated into hating on unions and therefore workers have no protection from MBAs who come in and find ways to "cut costs" to the benefit of shareholders and at the expense of workers.

Just about every profession includes tasks that you could, using this logic, pay the professional less for. The store manager, for example, often isn't doing payroll or scheduling or other "managerial" tasks, but is assisting customers or helping at the cash register, or bagging groceries. He should get paid less during those times he isn't actively managing. Firefighters spend a lot of time just watching TV, so we should only pay them when they are holding a hose aimed at a burning house. Pilots are only allowed to fly a certain number of hours, they should get paid less when they are doing paperwork and other tasks. Heart surgeons should only get paid their big salaries while doing open-heart surgery, and less when doing rounds or writing prescriptions.

This is just an example of how our entire economic system is rotting and festering with greed, mismanagement and poor ethics.

Rationalizing Cheapskates Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...The store manager, for example, often
> isn't doing payroll or scheduling or other
> "managerial" tasks, but is assisting customers or
> helping at the cash register, or bagging
> groceries. He should get paid less during those
> times he isn't actively managing...

Is a store manager at Giant hourly?

> ....Pilots are only allowed to fly a certain number
> of hours, they should get paid less when they are
> doing paperwork and other tasks...

Pilots are salaried.

> ...Heart surgeons should only get paid their
> big salaries while doing open-heart surgery, and
> less when doing rounds or writing prescriptions...

Heart surgeons are paid per procedure (and followup).

==========

In the end, it makes total sense to THIS end-customer that hourly workers that are paid for certain skills at a high rate should be paid at a lower rate when doing the job that a lower-paid worker normally does. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all that this whole scenario is union-driven...the store can't just say "We have no work for you - go home" but instead MUST say "We have no meat cutting work for you so you have to stock shelves like Joe Noskillsatall to make up the union-required hours; since your union requires explicit job descriptions and rates we're going to pay you the shelf-stocking rate".

There are all sorts of complexities - and blatantly purposeful misleading statements - when union-labor is involved in a job site - from both sides. And often when one side points fingers at the other they actually should be pointing in the mirror.

Bill.N. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In what universe is your WalMart located?
>
> Giant hasn't been Giant since Izzy Cohen died, so
> this shouldn't be a surprise.


WORD!

All meat utters that are Hybrids never get paid at wrapper wage because they are needed as cutters. This is another great plan of Giants that did not work. The meat department at Giant is run by people that have never cut a price of meat or run a meat department. They sit in their office and try and come up with way to keep their jobs. Not a clue what it takes to run the dept.
all their great plans never work and a waste of time and money. If I did as bad a job as them they would fire me. They stopped doing things we did for years because its what they want. Not that it would be better for giant or the customers then years later they bring it back like they thought of it. When ahold took over giant we went back 10 years in technology because that is where Stop & Shop was and they wanted us all the same. Just now getting back where we were do we are still behind.
Giant use to be the leader now the follower
Lies, lies and more lies

The plant they are building in Penn. they has listed as a sausage plant. Trying to find info on it was Impossible because of this. Why would they hide this plant? Looks like it will not be done till Jan. 2014
Stores with counters will still cut meat for it but the only Meatcutter will be the meat manager. All meat cutters will be gone. Giant has taken counters out of store during remodels. Not putting counters in
Lies, Lies and more lies

They tried to get a tax break in that town in Pa. They build a plant for minimum wage jobs then expected the town not to notice it wouldn't help anyone get off food stamps. Of course, the town said no tax break. You'll notice Stop and Shop didn't do this for their stores, even though they have the same competition. Stop and Shop and the people they hire for Giant are modern day carpetbaggers.

The joke is the meat won't be handled less. Now the butcher cuts it and then it's wrapped. It is in the case no more than 3 days.But prepackaged is different. it will be packaged to be in the case longer. Now prepacked hamburger is never dated more than 3 days but if you look at the date on the package itself, it could have been packaged at least a week before. When the package is priced only then does it get 3 days so people will think it's fresh. Same thing for the upcoming prepackaged meat. Being packed in gas,it can sit for days in the warehouse before being shipped to stores, where it will be dated and put out.

Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The joke is the meat won't be handled less. Now
> the butcher cuts it and then it's wrapped. It is
> in the case no more than 3 days.But prepackaged is
> different. it will be packaged to be in the case
> longer. Now prepacked hamburger is never dated
> more than 3 days but if you look at the date on
> the package itself, it could have been packaged at
> least a week before. When the package is priced
> only then does it get 3 days so people will think
> it's fresh. Same thing for the upcoming
> prepackaged meat. Being packed in gas,it can sit
> for days in the warehouse before being shipped to
> stores, where it will be dated and put out.

I actually have no idea if anything you have said here is true or not. We can assume you do NOT have agenda so "it is true" for this reply at least.

So...my questions are "why should we as end-consumers care?" and "Are you saying that meat packed "in gas" is in some manner inferior to meat not packed in gas?".

These are real questions from someone who eats meat, not cuts meat...

=======

Yes, of COURSE these questions spring from thinking "straw man" for most arguments against change.

Do Super H-Marts and Lotte's have aisles devoted to American food only?

Fred Sanantonio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do Super H-Marts and Lotte's have aisles devoted
> to American food only?

It's all American food.

And that's not kidding.

Comfort Food Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Butcher Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The joke is the meat won't be handled less. Now
> > the butcher cuts it and then it's wrapped. It
> is
> > in the case no more than 3 days.But prepackaged
> is
> > different. it will be packaged to be in the
> case
> > longer. Now prepacked hamburger is never dated
> > more than 3 days but if you look at the date on
> > the package itself, it could have been packaged
> at
> > least a week before. When the package is priced
> > only then does it get 3 days so people will
> think
> > it's fresh. Same thing for the upcoming
> > prepackaged meat. Being packed in gas,it can
> sit
> > for days in the warehouse before being shipped
> to
> > stores, where it will be dated and put out.
>
> I actually have no idea if anything you have said
> here is true or not. We can assume you do NOT have
> agenda so "it is true" for this reply at least.
>
> So...my questions are "why should we as
> end-consumers care?" and "Are you saying that meat
> packed "in gas" is in some manner inferior to meat
> not packed in gas?".
>
> These are real questions from someone who eats
> meat, not cuts meat...
>
> =======
>
> Yes, of COURSE these questions spring from
> thinking "straw man" for most arguments against
> change.

That's a really good question. I had to think about what to say. There really isn't any reason for the average consumer to care. I don't merchandise as much as I used to because I've found in a lot of locations people just don't have the time or skills to cook as they did years ago. We don't even have a price for such things as shell steaks anymore. Part of the retail business involves convincing the consumer to buy whether it's worth buying or not. There isn't any reason for the butter you buy to be yellow except some study found yellow more appealing than white. Most people think bright red is an appealing color for fresh meat. It's not, brown is a natural color. Red is the iron in blood turning to rust from oxygen. Gases will keep the meat bright red, making people think it's a fresh cut. My job is to provide a truely fresh product as opposed to a product that only appears to be fresh.I guess all I can say is I see my job as providing something worth its value as opposed to something that aims to the lowest denominator because the powers that be know you won't know any better. This is the erosion of American quality.

The Giant on Burke Centre used to be filled with hotties working the registers and MILFs shopping there. Now it seems to be middle eastern cashiers and illegals shopping or stealing there.

Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Comfort Food Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Butcher Wrote:

> >
> > I actually have no idea if anything you have
> said
> > here is true or not. We can assume you do NOT
> have
> > agenda so "it is true" for this reply at
> least.
> >
> > So...my questions are "why should we as
> > end-consumers care?" and "Are you saying that
> meat
> > packed "in gas" is in some manner inferior to
> meat
> > not packed in gas?".
> >
> > These are real questions from someone who eats
> > meat, not cuts meat...
> >
> > =======
> >
> > Yes, of COURSE these questions spring from
> > thinking "straw man" for most arguments against
> > change.
>
> That's a really good question. I had to think
> about what to say. There really isn't any reason
> for the average consumer to care. I don't
> merchandise as much as I used to because I've
> found in a lot of locations people just don't have
> the time or skills to cook as they did years ago.
> We don't even have a price for such things as
> shell steaks anymore. Part of the retail business
> involves convincing the consumer to buy whether
> it's worth buying or not. There isn't any reason
> for the butter you buy to be yellow except some
> study found yellow more appealing than white. Most
> people think bright red is an appealing color for
> fresh meat. It's not, brown is a natural color.
> Red is the iron in blood turning to rust from
> oxygen. Gases will keep the meat bright red,
> making people think it's a fresh cut. My job is to
> provide a truely fresh product as opposed to a
> product that only appears to be fresh.I guess all
> I can say is I see my job as providing something
> worth its value as opposed to something that aims
> to the lowest denominator because the powers that
> be know you won't know any better. This is the
> erosion of American quality.

It's not just the packing. Without a butcher, you can't get a trimmed/tied/just the size you want/from the cut you prefer like the one I just rotisseried from Harris Teeter. Admittedly Harris Teeter doesn't hang sides in their meat locker, but you'll never get that kind of customization Pennsylvania.

What Giant (Ahold) doesn't understand and Harris Teeter/Wegmans do is, Fairfax/Loudoun have enough people with upper middle/low rich wealth/incomes to demand and get semi-custom products when they want them. They go to Costco or the web for undifferentiated stuff. The semi-customized products, the kind of butchering that Fairfax wants/can afford, are "mass customized" -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_customization

And, if Fairfax residents can't get mass customized, they switch from the Giant at Franklin Farm to the Harris Teeter on Sunrise.

Giant has the hottest checkout girls.

I will shop there if only for that reason.

What Ahold does not understand is in this area people like to have service while they shop. They want to get custom cut meat, They want to be able to speak to someone that knows meat and what to do with it. Giant over trained the old meat cutters but we could answer any questions the customers asked. Not today. None of the workers hired in the last 10 years knows much about meat and many do not speak english.
Customers for years paid the higher prices at Giant but got anything they wanted. We did not say NO. Today we are always saying No, we do not do/carry that anymore but they blame the loss in meat busness to the meatcutters. They will find out when the busness all goes away with their new plan to bring in pre cut meat. They ask the old guys nothing. Just lead us blindly along and keep making the same mistakes over and over
Lies, Lies and more Lies

We were told the meat department was always a money losing department which was ok when Giant was a family owned and family/ community oriented business.
Now, with owners in the Netherlands, and being run by a business in Boston, profits are most important. There aren't any ties to the community. Most of the executives and personnal in Landover quit or were shoved out for this new philosphy.
Butchers are about the last persons in the store that will try to do what you want, when you want (at least the old school trained ones).

giant is a horrible company to work for i put a app in at the one downt the street from my house to work in meat dept. I wanted to woqrk there for convienience i could walk to work and not take 2 buses. I was working for bjs wholesale clubs meat dept and was getting fed up with the way the company was run. Another giant called and desperatly needed help in the meat dept and said i would be perfect for the job and told me exactly what i needed to hear to think it would be a good idea. I didnt think and took the job me and my daughter had great insurance through bjs and i had a for the most part steady scehdule and actually felt somewhat appreciated for the work i put in i like to stay busy cause it makes the time go by faster not because i want to help the company in any way as far as im concerned all the higher ups can burn in hell and probably will for the way they treat people. Anyway my first couple months where good at giant i was working alot and getting good pay checks so i was like ok this is alright why is every other employee so miserable. All at once the employees that were out from injuries and being pregnant and it was the end of summer. just like that i went from managment telling me what a great job im doing to not looking at me. I now hhave hardly any hours and lost my good insurance and i still take 2 buses to work. they lied to me used me and when they where done fucked me in the ass without any lube i can barely make ends meet i have no money in my pocket and i want to kick the shit out of those mother fuckers that hired me. i said when i was hired dont bring me on if you are gonna play with the scedule trying to save money ohhhhh noooo we dont do that here. We had a meeting today on being more happy i asked the moron running it how am i suposed to be happy if i dont have any money and cant pay the bills, why should i be happy about being expected to do 8 hours of work in 5 hrs. it is putting a major strain on my relationship and i hate waking up in the morning and i hate doing a good job for a company that lied to me and and shows no remorse for doing so. and the pharmicist is a huge bitch she labeled me a drug seeker cause of the perscription i take it took some adjusting going from the meds i was used to taking my insurance paid for to the shitty generic ones that dont work and landed me in the hospitol. She broke the hipa law and called other pharmacies (i reported her its being investigated) telling them i was a problem thats when i lost it i told the gm to get fucked and called the head of hr since then nothing has changed and i dont expect it to i dont believe anything they tell me and currently looking for another job and strongly considering just quitting even though i dont have another job yet i think it would be more healthy for me and the sense of urgency might give me more motivation. They are THE WORST COMPANY i ever worked for and after all this is done i will go out of my way to never set foot in a giant ever again.

Run-on sentences. Poor grammar. Rambling. Too long. Your post gets an 'F'.

justin81 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> .....They are THE WORST COMPANY i ever
> worked for and after all this is done i will go
> out of my way to never set foot in a giant ever
> again.


Truth is, I don't think they want you in the store.

Buy a Freezer, get farm fresh beef, some farms butcher after the whole cow is sold, and flash freeze. USDA inspected. Cant compare to store bought Meats for taste and quality and its Local, not part of a Profit Making Corporation based outside of the USA. You can also get Pork and depending on the farm you may get Eggs or other things. Closest here to the NOVA area are either Winchester or Stafford so it is a drive, but 400 pounds of meat can go a long ways, we still have some from 2010 in the freezer, time to make another run.

As with everything it's about cutting costs wherever possible. Nothing like farm fresh t-bones and new york strips! mmmmgood!

I'll bet that the prepackaged meat winds up being plenty fresh enough for human consumption and still plenty good as well.

Years ago a 400lb man would eat a rib eye steak completely raw every friday night at Mortons of Crystal City. Needless to say he's no longer with us.

The autopsy revealed 193lbs of semi-digested meat in his intestines!

He died of suffocation and distension. ew garohos

Several executives resigned the same day a couple of weeks ago. There was an emergency conference call to address the situation. Some of the executives had just joined the company but saw what a mess it was. The rats are deserting a sinking ship.

The only thing giant at Giant are the prices -- and, of course, the egos and arrogance of the unionized workers.

Pre-packaged meat is fine --- it will be safer for those who choose to eat the blood and flesh of another animal.

Now if only Giant will do something about the rotten fruits and vegetables infested with insects on sale...

Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We were told the meat department was always a
> money losing department which was ok when Giant
> was a family owned and family/ community oriented
> business.
> Now, with owners in the Netherlands, and being
> run by a business in Boston, profits are most
> important. There aren't any ties to the community.
> Most of the executives and personnal in Landover
> quit or were shoved out for this new philosphy.
> Butchers are about the last persons in the
> store that will try to do what you want, when you
> want (at least the old school trained ones).

Bingo --- and why they are being eliminated --- better late than never.

BTW -- I still have not forgiven them for canning (no pun intended) O'Donna Mathews --- the Betty-Crockerized chick now in that job just is just so not boinkable.

And I am even more angry that they changed the self-scanners so that I can no longer use my 992's there. That's just wrong.

Gimmee a break. The meat industry in this country went to "primal" cuts 20 years ago -- big chunks like loins that get cut into steaks at the store. When was the last time you saw a half-carcass hanging in the back of a butcher shop? All a so-called butcher does now days is pull the primal out of the box, pull off the shrink wrap and run it through the band saw and package the steaks in those cute little trays. All they are doing is moving that last part of the process up the supply chain a step.

UnionBuster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gimmee a break. The meat industry in this country
> went to "primal" cuts 20 years ago -- big chunks
> like loins that get cut into steaks at the store.
> When was the last time you saw a half-carcass
> hanging in the back of a butcher shop? All a
> so-called butcher does now days is pull the primal
> out of the box, pull off the shrink wrap and run
> it through the band saw and package the steaks in
> those cute little trays. All they are doing is
> moving that last part of the process up the supply
> chain a step.

Half the time they don't even do that. The whole damn primal, shrink wrap and all, is lobbed into the bloody, nasty cooler and sold for a few pennies less per pound than the cut up and somewhat defatted crap.

All the fatties marauding through the Giant in their motorized scooters are foaming at the mouth when they savagely discover these primals and lob em into their baskets right after they pick up their heart and BP and diabetes meds from the right-next-to-the-meat-department pharmacy.

Only in these united states of amerika. FAIL.

FykEY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Pre-packaged meat is fine --- it will be safer for
> those who choose to eat the blood and flesh of
> another animal.
>

I don't know if I believe that. Every time you hear about contaminated meat, it's coming from some meat processing/packageing plant somewhere.
When is the last time you heard of contaminated meat coming from a butcher shop or grocery store that does it in house?

I don't eat meat so I don't care. And if you really want unprocessed food then you need to join a co-op farm. Trust me none of the food in the United States sold in grocery stores is that safe or good for you.


Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You might want to do your grocery shopping at
> safeway or Wegmans. Giant is doing away with fresh
> cut meats. They are building a facility in Pa,
> cutting and packing your steaks like Walmart and
> Target. They say it will be fresh, just ignore the
> funny taste.

"I don't eat meat..." "Trust me..."


Somehow that ain't workin' for me in a discussion about a butcher shop.

Meat is bad for you. You think your getting anything healthy at Safeway or Wegmans either. Prepackaging should be the least of your concerns about meat.


Veg-Intolerant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "I don't eat meat..." "Trust me..."
>
>
> Somehow that ain't workin' for me in a discussion
> about a butcher shop.

Have a bunch of know it alls that do not have a clue what it takes to cut meat properly. You do not just run it thru a saw. Maybe at Cosco or wal-mart but not a real grocery stores like giant and Safeway. It take a craftsman to cut meat properly but that is all coming to an end. Who's next? Maybe you.

CoinStar machines now offer Giant gift cards for no fee. So if you got a jar of coins around $30 or so and single you can pretty much cover your monthly grocery buying. Other grocery stores with these machines don't seem to offer this option.

One problem, be sure counting machine is counting correctly. They get out of whack (especially smaller coins)as people use them further away from the last calibration.

Va. dept. of weights and measures probably doesn't have the staff to enforce this and CoinS. knows this

UnionBuster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gimmee a break. The meat industry in this country
> went to "primal" cuts 20 years ago -- big chunks
> like loins that get cut into steaks at the store.
> When was the last time you saw a half-carcass
> hanging in the back of a butcher shop? All a
> so-called butcher does now days is pull the primal
> out of the box, pull off the shrink wrap and run
> it through the band saw and package the steaks in
> those cute little trays. All they are doing is
> moving that last part of the process up the supply
> chain a step.


If you think that's all that is involved in the meat cutting industry, you are woefully ignorant about merchandising meat.
The main point I'm trying to emphasize is that eliminating butchers or onsite meatcutting won't reduce the cost of that steak or roast at all. The savings don't go to the consumer, they go to Royal Aholes, a foreign interest. It's important to see how taking good paying jobs out of the area hurts us all in the revenue generated for taxes, for maintaining the middle class, and the ability to spend to maintain the other businesses in the area. All that money goes to the Netherlands and hurts us all. This isn't about the union, it's about taking decent paying jobs out of the area. Ahold is treating Giant like the owners of Hostess, trading on its good reputation while squeezing profits regardless of the long term damage to the area or employees.
I suggest Giant has a "the end justifies the means" sense of corporate culture.

I'm certainly not here to defend Royal-A but they face the same problem that many big companies face which is a consumer mind set almost solely driven by the lowest price tag.

I suspect 75%-90% of Giant's customers could care less about an in-house butcher shop, they only thing they're looking for is the absolute lowest price tag on a pierce of meat and therein lies Royal-A's problem which then becomes an (unemployment) problem for the butchers.

By the way - and this is the really sad part - as recently as the holidays, the butchers in the Loehmann's Plaza Giant claim they know nothing about this even thought the rumor has been out since last Summer. I wonder how long Giant is going to withhold the news from its workforce.

Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> UnionBuster Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Gimmee a break. The meat industry in this
> country
> > went to "primal" cuts 20 years ago -- big
> chunks
> > like loins that get cut into steaks at the
> store.
> > When was the last time you saw a half-carcass
> > hanging in the back of a butcher shop? All a
> > so-called butcher does now days is pull the
> primal
> > out of the box, pull off the shrink wrap and
> run
> > it through the band saw and package the steaks
> in
> > those cute little trays. All they are doing is
> > moving that last part of the process up the
> supply
> > chain a step.
>
>
> If you think that's all that is involved in the
> meat cutting industry, you are woefully ignorant
> about merchandising meat.
> The main point I'm trying to emphasize is that
> eliminating butchers or onsite meatcutting won't
> reduce the cost of that steak or roast at all. The
> savings don't go to the consumer, they go to Royal
> Aholes, a foreign interest. It's important to see
> how taking good paying jobs out of the area hurts
> us all in the revenue generated for taxes, for
> maintaining the middle class, and the ability to
> spend to maintain the other businesses in the
> area. All that money goes to the Netherlands and
> hurts us all. This isn't about the union, it's
> about taking decent paying jobs out of the area.
> Ahold is treating Giant like the owners of
> Hostess, trading on its good reputation while
> squeezing profits regardless of the long term
> damage to the area or employees.
> I suggest Giant has a "the end justifies the
> means" sense of corporate culture.

Yes, yes, yes, blah blah blah

Tell that to the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of telecom workers
who lost their jobs in the last decade here. There used to be
a company called MCI? Remember them? They busted the AT&T monopoly
and created millions of new very high paying jobs right here in DMV -- with most of those jobs in Fairfax County. GTE, Telenet, (most of) Sprint, Nextel, British Telecom, ECI, GEISCO, Concert, Net 2000, and hundreds more --- GONE never return.

All those jobs (and MCI for that matter) are gone. And guess what, everyone moved on and got new jobs one way or another. Union-supporting and the lefty, commie-pinko typical bitching did not save their asses or their overpaid jobs.

Bitching about the the end of an era long past its prime is foolish.

Go cry to the people of Flint and Pontiac and Detroit -- there you might find some kindred souls to whom your bitching may find some willing listeners.

More to the point, if Giant customers cared about keeping butchers, they would stay. It's not relevant to 99.99 percent of shoppers regardless of where they shop. Go find a local buthershop -- there's one at Bull Run -- get a job there and take your customer (just one!) with you.

Veg-Intolerant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "I don't eat meat..." "Trust me..."
>
>
> Somehow that ain't workin' for me in a discussion
> about a butcher shop.

Better stay away from spinach. Especially that "triple-washed" bagged crap. (literally crap). And tomatoes. And jalapenos. And then the frankenfood served up by monsanto and their patented seeds! who knew that vegetables could be so tainted and toxic?

Not that I am a fan of eating the charred flesh and blood of selected animals but not others --- I, for one, have never understood the utter waste of putting millions of unwanted dogs and cats to death each year but not eating that flesh.

And that dude who wanted to fuck some strangers? Here you go --- pick one who eats a a cow but not a dog...stranger indeed.

DH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FykEY Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Pre-packaged meat is fine --- it will be safer
> for
> > those who choose to eat the blood and flesh of
> > another animal.
> >
>
> I don't know if I believe that. Every time you
> hear about contaminated meat, it's coming from
> some meat processing/packageing plant somewhere.
> When is the last time you heard of contaminated
> meat coming from a butcher shop or grocery store
> that does it in house?

Because the in-house stuff ain't regulated or tested like the slaughter-house shit is.

If it were, a lot more of it would be recalled.

And if most amerikans were aware of how their meat was "processed" our obesity epidemic would be over -- none of it is humanely produced, millions of animals are abused every day, and most of the meat is contaminated.

A simple Google search will reveal scores of competent reviews and reveals of this fact.


https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+meat+is+contaminated&oq=how+much+meat+is+contaminated&aqs=chrome.0.57j62l3.3768&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

G7nyy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DH Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > FykEY Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > >
> > > Pre-packaged meat is fine --- it will be
> safer
> > for
> > > those who choose to eat the blood and flesh
> of
> > > another animal.
> > >
> >
> > I don't know if I believe that. Every time you
> > hear about contaminated meat, it's coming from
> > some meat processing/packageing plant somewhere.
>
> > When is the last time you heard of contaminated
> > meat coming from a butcher shop or grocery
> store
> > that does it in house?
>
> Because the in-house stuff ain't regulated or
> tested like the slaughter-house shit is.
>
> If it were, a lot more of it would be recalled.
>
> And if most amerikans were aware of how their meat
> was "processed" our obesity epidemic would be over
> -- none of it is humanely produced, millions of
> animals are abused every day, and most of the
> meat is contaminated.
>
> A simple Google search will reveal scores of
> competent reviews and reveals of this fact.
>
>
>That is patently ridiculous. Peta? oh brother, try again. Everything that comes in and goes out (including hamburger) is tested and recorded. The reason a lot of meat isn't recalled is because It's SUPPOSED TO BE COOKED and many,if most people know it.If there is something wrong, it's mostly a stomach ache rather than death. Also, unlike a processing plant that will supply multiple atores, the local butcher shop has a limited serving area. If someone gets ill, the health authorities can check that store's records and operating procedures. And if you bother to read the articles, the contamination talked about occurs before the meat is shipped out to the stores.

KejkD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, yes, yes, blah blah blah
>
> Tell that to the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of telecom
> workers
> who lost their jobs in the last decade here. There
> used to be
> a company called MCI? Remember them? They busted
> the AT&T monopoly
> and created millions of new very high paying jobs
> right here in DMV -- with most of those jobs in
> Fairfax County. GTE, Telenet, (most of) Sprint,
> Nextel, British Telecom, ECI, GEISCO, Concert, Net
> 2000, and hundreds more --- GONE never return.
>
> All those jobs (and MCI for that matter) are gone.
> And guess what, everyone moved on and got new jobs
> one way or another. Union-supporting and the
> lefty, commie-pinko typical bitching did not save
> their asses or their overpaid jobs.
>
> Bitching about the the end of an era long past its
> prime is foolish.
>
> Go cry to the people of Flint and Pontiac and
> Detroit -- there you might find some kindred souls
> to whom your bitching may find some willing
> listeners.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but could you possibly be any more arrogant? White collar telecomm workers have transferable skills, perhaps with some additional training. And everything in the IT field changes - usually very quickly. People expect that and they know they have to be flexible. But a butcher is a butcher, and has probably been one for years.

Show some compassion for other people. That could be you one day. In fact, if you work in IT it probably will be you one day, especially as you get older.

Not to change the subject but the contamination recalls of meat I've seen is a precaution for the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. This is unlike the recalls of lettuce or onions that have resulted in deaths. Bacteria aren't space spores of an alien presence. It occurs in nature. Some common sense and following safe cooking guidelines are useful.

Europe is now dealing with a major pre-packaged meat scandal. Some products are turning up as high as 60% horse meat.

They have told all cutters that giant will be going to prepackaged meat around November 2013. New contract then also because contract has to be changed to be able to bring in pre-cut meat. I wonder how do they know this will pass? They are already building plant in York Pa. Giant was build on service. Customers of giant do not alway care about price as long as they get great service do no after the price giant will lose customer when they start this. Fact: how many ecolirecalls did giant have when they ground all ground beef in house? 0. How many now it comes in pre-ground? 10

Giant and Ahold suck. At the Giant by me in Springfield they got rid of the butcher counter when they remodeled the store two years ago. Put in more freezers for frozen seafood! They also got rid of the bell or any way to ask a butcher for help. You simply have to hope the butcher comes out from the back while your standing around the meat area.

I hope when Ahold announces this formally to their customers there is a big backlash. There was a backlash in the same store when they removed the fresh fish counter a year before the remodel. So many people complained, it was back in three months. Not so when they took the butcher counter away. A lot of people complained and Ahold told them to pound sand. The only thing Ahold cares about is $$$$$.

Butcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You might want to do your grocery shopping at
> safeway or Wegmans. Giant is doing away with fresh
> cut meats. They are building a facility in Pa,
> cutting and packing your steaks like Walmart and
> Target. They say it will be fresh, just ignore the
> funny taste.
My supervisor Gil Jocober from the Gaithersburg Giants says they already sold all the meat equipment. Saws and meat grinders.Giant is leasing them back until they go prepack meats He says no one is safe in Giant.

he really shouldn't be sharing that info being in upper management,Giant has been so hush, hush about it all.....unfair I say. let us know what's down the road so one can plan ones life !!!!

I am currently a meat cutter for GIANT in Pennsylvania. The company has been VERY quiet and vague about all of this. Most cutters will be shifted around and, basically, pushed out. It's a shame because meat cutting is a skilled trade. Believe it or not it takes time and training. I'm 23 years old and have worked hard for this position. Luckily I have back up plans. I do, however, feel bad for a lot of the 30/40 something year old guys who have families and no options.
GIANT is emulating Wegmans and Walmart: Pre-packed, below average meat. Some people out there still value fresh cut QUALITY meat by a skilled butcher and I am one of those people. I will not be shopping at GIANT anymore.

What Giant is doing is telling the consumers that they do not have a choice. They have to accept prepackaged meat and they do not care what they think. They think what they are doing is going to make them more money and that is the ONLY reason they are doing this. Meat cutting is a skilled craft and meat cutters make the most in the stores so getting rid of cutters saves them a lot of money to put in their bonuses. They do not give a rat shit what consumers want.

Prepackaged meats are starting to turn up at the local Giants around Springfield. It's in, "Nature's Promise," packaging and states, " Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Saw packages of pork chops and stew meat. Packaging had kind of a green tint to it so the meat did not look good to begin with.

Won't be buying the prepackaged crap. Guess I will be shopping elsewhere.

Quality and choice have really gone downhill at Giant. I buy most meat now at BJs - where I can actually see the butcher.

The Nature's Promise name is misleading. People assume it means organic. It doesn't unless the package says organic. They mix it up so people will be confused. The stuff is overpriced to begin with and has a 28 day shelf life. if it doesn't sell, we are supposed to repack it and pretend it's something we have cut in store. Stop and Shop thinks it's being clever but people can tell the difference. I would never recommend prepackage to my customers. Years ago, Laura's Beef had it's own line of beef besides the hamburger, it was crap. This is the same pig with new lipstick.

it is true. ive been with giant 15 yrs n now im going to lose $300 a week in pay. i have a house im paying for n a single parent. how am i suppose to live????

Fed Up Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Quality and choice have really gone downhill at
> Giant. I buy most meat now at BJs - where I can
> actually see the butcher.


Not for much longer. A friend's kid works for BJs and expressed interest in the meat department. His manager told him it was on it's way out at BJs and everywhere else.

I hope someone publishes a guide to all the scores of Smithfield brands so people can avoid buying Chinese poison.

What a stupid fucking country this is to let our enemies into our food supply.

What's with so many people on food stamps. It's frustrating to see them loading up on things at the supermarket.. things I can't afford to buy my family. And paying for it all with their government-issued debit cards. Shopping at all hours of the night with all their kids in tow. I wish I knew the Spanish phrase for "past your bedtime, little one."

So sorry I voted for Obama Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's with so many people on food stamps. It's
> frustrating to see them loading up on things at
> the supermarket.. things I can't afford to buy my
> family. And paying for it all with their
> government-issued debit cards. Shopping at all
> hours of the night with all their kids in tow. I
> wish I knew the Spanish phrase for "past your
> bedtime, little one."


Have you not noticed the current state of the economy and how wages are stagnant/decreasing????

I know in Fairfax County you can make up to $1,600 or so ($10/hour 40 hours a week) and still get a small amount of food stamps.

Rent alone for a simple 1 bedroom in Fairfax County proper STARTS at $1,000 a month (sources: apartments.com, apartmentfinder.com). Most entry-mid level jobs without a degree pay between $8-12 per hour (sources: craigslist, careerbuilder, WaPo jobs section)

People (especially those with families) need ALL the help they can get.

Sure, you see a LOT of illegals (and i hate this too) but there are AMERICAN BORN people out here working for $10 an hour NOW who need the help.

nomoredrama Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Sure, you see a LOT of illegals (and i hate this
> too) but there are AMERICAN BORN people out here
> working for $10 an hour NOW who need the help.


Dude, how did you get THAT superpower? That's awesome! I mean x-ray vision would be kind of cool, but vision that can instantly spot an illegal immigrant? You could be making the big bucks working for ICE!

They've stated they'll be shipping the unprocessed pork back to China. It'll create more jobs in China than it will here.

ex-Lester Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They've stated they'll be shipping the unprocessed
> pork back to China. It'll create more jobs in
> China than it will here.


So, they paid almost 5 billion for a U.S. company and they are going to exit the U.S. market?

Yeah, OK, that makes sense.

Giant starting testing on prepackaged meats at Cardinal Forest Giant starting July 30, 2013. All other store projected to start March 2014. Meat cutters will get new positions based on seniority but at lower pay rate which is the whole reason of going to prepackaged meats, to save $$$$. Savings will not be passed on to consumers but put in Aholds pockets.

The way Giant is being operated and the way money is being sucked out (failing equipment, lack of basic supplies), this chain won't be around much longer. Harris Teeter and Wegmans are taking over the area.

Safeway in Annandale is the worst I have seen in a long time. I quit going there 2-3 years ago. Giant is better, but Harris Teeter beats Giant easily. HMart and China Wall are good for fresh vegetables.

Anything that involves ridding us of greedy, socialist-democrat voting union thugs is a good thing.

Safeway Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Safeway in Annandale is the worst I have seen in a
> long time. I quit going there 2-3 years ago. Giant
> is better, but Harris Teeter beats Giant easily.
> HMart and China Wall are good for fresh
> vegetables.


Harris Teeter is a failed grocery chain that was just swallowed up by the Kroger empire.

It will be rough for Harris Teeter with the takover, adjusting to new systems,etc. I hope Kroger is more willing to work with the existing management and not just extracting money for shareholders. I work for Giant but when an outside company takes over, it sucks money out of the whole community for foreign interests.

Senior meat utters will become meat clerks at a reduced hourly rate. As they go down the list of cutters and fill meat clerk jobs they will then start putting cutters into other department in the store. How would like to workforce a company for years at a craft to then e put in a lower job at a BIG different salery? We are talking about $10 a hour difference. How many could stand a hit like that? Not many

Giant's are now getting their ground Beef from the New plant in York, Pa. By beginning of next year all meat will be cut and packaged in York, Pa in ALL Giant Food Stores. Many problems in test stores but Giant will go ahead with their plan no matter if the consumer likes it or not. Meats are turning way before out date, thickness is not what consumers want and NO SPECIAL CUT MEAT. Take what is there. All Meat cutters will become Meat Clerks at lower wage. See story here: http://www.ufcw400.org/2013/10/community-stands-for-good-jobs-and-quality-meat-at-giant-food/

That sucks! The pre-cut pre-packaged meat at our Giant in Springfield looks like shit and I refuse to buy ot. Looks like I will be shopping at Safeway and Wegmans a lot more!

I also heard the fresh seafood counters will be going away from the guy working it. I saw him training at the cash register and when I asked him what's up, he said that he either had to get trained in another area or find a new job because the seafood counters were going away early next year.

So, which supermarkets still offer fresh meat and competent butchers?

Not Wegmans. Most they sell is precut not fresh. You know how it goes, after Giant starts it the rest will follow so soon there will be no fresh cut meat in Washington DC area. Small butcher shops are few. Springfield butch is really good. Meat cutting is an art that is all but gone. Even the newer cutters at giant do not have the correct skill to cut meat the right way. But they stopped training them correctly when they decided on the prepackaged idea. If consumers do not stand up now there Will be nowhere to get fresh cut meat

JM, you might lose alot of money but you will still have a job with benefits unlike me. Giant trumped up some BS and I not only lost my job, after the loss of my husband of 30yrs, but my home and damn near everything in it. That's what I got after 26yrs of service. And your union, don't count on them, they are too busy trying to save WalMart employees from being Non Union b/c they have a dream of being the largest union in the world. They couldn't care less about the ones who paid their salaries. Maybe you will get my old job, part time of course. Welcome to HBC.

Whats wrong with pre packaged meat? It still has the same nutrients...

It'll probably even be cheaper...

Nope. It won't be cheaper. They will sell it by the ounce so it will look cheaper but when you see what you are actualy paying by the pound, it will a lot more. It's an old merchandising trick.

Sorry. It won't be cheaper. They will sell it at a set price but the price will reflect what you are buying at the weight,not by the pound. For example, you may buy a new york strip and the package says the price is $5. However, the weight of the prepackaged strip is 4 ounces, therefore, you are actually paying $16 a pound.

The gross profit in prepackaged meat is much less then what it is now so no way will it be cheaper. Ahold is doing this to make them more money not better for the consumer. They will save on getting rid of meatcutters saleries

Plus 1.

Looks like it will be in stores by feb 2014. Union meeting on Jan. 7 for all meat departmant personal and a vote will be taken. Most meatcutters will become meat clerks at a much lower wage. The union is so weak they will not be able to do anything to help the meatcutters. Should have done something 2 years ago when they put cutters to part time.

Hopefully there will be a buyout offer.

Yet another result of liberalism. Gotta love America killing liberals.

Meat prices will go up as Giant will sell the expensive angus meat and the nongraded "select" cuts. Select is so tough it has to be prepinned ( stabbed) to make it edible. Since that makes the juices run, you should be able to wear it on the bottom of your shoe.

By end of March all stores will have meat that will be cut in York Pa. All now have thin slice pre cut meat. Offered buyout to meat cutter before the demote them to meat clerks. Only older worker got the buyout. Morale us very low

Unions have been screwing over businesses for decades. So happy to see union employees get fucked for a change! When you decided to join a union, you made a short-term decision to screw your employer and a long-term decision to screw yourself. Deal with it!

Meatcutters will become meat clerks on May 4 with $6.00 an hour loss in wages plus being part time will be lucky to get 20 hours a week. Stores are slowly changing over to meat cut in York Pa. And sent into stores.
It's the end of a craft. The people who are cutting the meat are NOT trained meat cutters. They are taught how to make a cut or trim and the majority of the meat is cut by machine. It's a damn shame!!

^ Thanks for your updates. It's sad that this is happening.

Screw the unions that have been screwing businesses for decades! Fewer union thugs = Less money in pockets of corrupt democrat politicians. This is cause for celebration!

It has nothing to do with the union. Giant is raising prices on its meats. Anything with a bone is treated with chemicals to keep from showing how old it is. If you want a special cut, it will take 2 days to get it. Everything thats comes into the stores will have a week's expiration date on it. "Fresh" takes on a new meaning at Giant

Anything that results in fewer union thugs is a good thing.

I remember when working at Giant was a great job. The union was great, they had great pay and benefits. Once the Cohens sold Giant to Royal Dutch Ahold things went downhill. The top level management were convicted of stock manipulation and other crimes related to finance. How can anyone blame the unions? People are so stupid, management has been raping the working man for the past 30 years. Look at the cost of living and how much it has increased in the last 30 years, have wages kept up with the cost of living? Look who works at Mcdonalds now, adults, when I was a kid it was kids works these low wages jobs. Now people support families working at burgerking. America is fucked and the GOP is doing the fucking.

I have a package of meat that you can drool over.

Idiots Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I remember when working at Giant was a great job.
> The union was great, they had great pay and
> benefits. Once the Cohens sold Giant to Royal
> Dutch Ahold things went downhill. The top level
> management were convicted of stock manipulation
> and other crimes related to finance. How can
> anyone blame the unions? People are so stupid,
> management has been raping the working man for the
> past 30 years. Look at the cost of living and how
> much it has increased in the last 30 years, have
> wages kept up with the cost of living? Look who
> works at Mcdonalds now, adults, when I was a kid
> it was kids works these low wages jobs. Now people
> support families working at burgerking. America is
> fucked and the GOP is doing the fucking.

Typical lib douchebag mentality. Who exactly owes you a living with your high-school dropout, lazy, dumbass, no-skills, worthless ass? Why do all libs sound like entitled retards, blaming companies and the GOP for their failures?

once i went into Giant at night, at risk of being stalked by fx co for a gallon of milk i couln't really afford (they tell me, that is)

ALL FUCKING ASIAN. no cashiers in sight except asian. like 25 asians shoppong no one else

they eyed me a funny way. wierd thing is there are no asian neighborhoods close by i know of. AND there IS an asian grocer close though. hmmm.

-----------------------
i wonder if Holland knows about this "dc shopping" styles ?

fairfax. full of fucking crooks who aren't even supposed to be in the country.

once at night i went to xxxx for some dental stuff since i'm poor and my dentist did work so bad i'd do it myself sooner than let idiot work on me again

-------------------------------
ALL HISPANIC

right. that i expected! nothing unusual per say

It won't be long before Stop & Shop (also owned by Ahold) goes the same route. In New Jersey, no one shops there anyway, they can't compete with Shoprite

All cutter demoted to clerks on May 4 so only manager can cut meat now. All stores will be prepackaged meat within 2 weeks. Good luck getting any special cuts. Plus employees will not be in great moods after having to take a pay cut. I would say other companies will follow soon. Say good bye to meatcutters. Union sucks. Doing nothing to help.

Got sick as fuck last night off Giant meat.

Never again

....... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Got sick as fuck last night off Giant meat.
>
> Never again


The only thing worse than their meats is their produce. Who leaves strawberries on their shelves that are covered in mold? Yes, I am point at you Greenbriar Giant.

Fewer union dues will be going into the pockets of corrupt Dem politicians. This is good for America.

So now Giant has gone to selling Select grade meat. The new blue label that says "Butchers Choice" is select not USDA Choice as they had always sold before. Not telling the public. Trying to get by without the truth bring said. Less help, Less hours, poorer quality meat. That's my Giant

For the last few months ,Giant has beeen secretly testing if people pay attention to the USDA gradings. Some stores have been selling Select instead of Choice. When the big buys go on sale, some stores sell Choice, others sell Select AT THE SAME PRICE. In other words, the customer pays for a lower grade meat at one store, while down the street another customer buys a higher grade and both pay the same price.
Evidently, it was a success as Giant will now mix the 2 together and call it Butcher. The customer may get Choice or Select or for big buys, a mixture. All at the same price.

How much do meatcutters or butchers get paid? They used to get more than the average salary.

Nothing. There are no meatcutters at giant anymore. They are all meat clerks now. All the meat is cut in Camp Hill Pa. And there are no journeyman meatcutters there. They hire anyone off the street or from the prison next door and show them how to make a cut and that is all they do the same cut all day. Most meat is cut by machine now

And has for some time.."Giant Lean" Tough meat, Giant hamburger Yuk.

Food Lion has the best meat today, how funny how they were the "bad guys about 15 years ago. BJ's Costco, Safeway expensive but good. All have better meat then Giant. Giant has gone from a super supermarket to so-so. With higher prices and Bogus Card tricks, gas "points" that disappear before you can use them..

Giant in Izzy Cohen's day was a great store.
I always got a laugh about Izzy's statement that Giants managers take care of business, That a "elephant in the store would be a "Big Problem" but store managers could take care of it without getting Izzy involved.

Izzy would tour the Giant Food stores talking to customers and staff with a Giant name tag.. "Izzy" many customers never knew who he was..a great business man who took care of customers and his staff.

In Izzys day Giant paid top wages also. God bless You Izzy..

We stillo cut our own meat on site with highly skilled meatcutters and the best quality meat and we offer Halal meat in Springfield. Come visit us and try us out. Thank you.

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So now Giant has gone to selling Select grade
> meat. The new blue label that says "Butchers
> Choice" is select not USDA Choice as they had
> always sold before. Not telling the public.
> Trying to get by without the truth bring said.
> Less help, Less hours, poorer quality meat. That's
> my Giant

I have noticed Giant trying to jacked-up their prices on the sly. It really pisses me off. They slap a “sale” tag on the regular price and when that “sale” comes down. The regular price is up by 50% to 100% more. That really pisses me off. Just that they are trying to sneak it in like that.

Giant has been pushing "grilling chickens". You might notice the packages don't say inspected by the USDA or grade A chicken. That means they probably have been inspected but found to be of poor quality, mostly skin and bone. Giant is selling second rate chicken at the grade A price.

I tried that chicken last weekend. It was fowl.

pork Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hope someone publishes a guide to all the scores
> of Smithfield brands so people can avoid buying
> Chinese poison.
>
> What a stupid fucking country this is to let our
> enemies into our food supply.

You are not kidding! I say the ssme thing but never hear anyone else say it. Plus when said, it just falls to the ground like no one heard it - deaf ears.
SO FUCKING OBVIOUSLY STUPID (caps intended). I imagine them (the Chinese) laughing at how STUPID we are. That, plus teachers teaching our kids to be ashamed of our heritage and be ashamed of themselves if they're white and be embarrassed to be American. That's what they teach. Maybe we should be ashamed FOR BEING SO STUPID!!!

The USDA finds Giant has been playing games with the labeling of the meat as I said back in August.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/13/giant-changed-its-meat-labeling-practices-the-usda-didnt-appreciate-it/?tid=pm_pop

Figures...their marketing department came up with the idea. What a lowlife move, typical of Giant.

And meat dept is losing more money then they did when they cut meat in the stores. They have a these "Yes" men that know nothing about the meat business and they have destroyed Giant as you know them. So sad from King to court jester.

So whats the best chain? Wegmans, hairy titties, SFW?

Larry Meadows, a Department of Agriculture official who is one of the people charged with overseeing the nation’s meat supply, said in an interview that the action was problematic. “We’ve never seen anyone use anything like the ‘USDA graded’ label before,” said Meadows, associate deputy administrator of the USDA’s livestock, poultry and feed program. “The label is truthful, but it’s also misleading.”

Meadows said one reason a company might use a more generic label is to save money, or to blur the impact of introducing an unusually high amount of lower-quality beef.

So Giant is getting their ass kicked by stores like Wegmans that offer higher quality at lower prices, and Giant's response is to lower quality even further?

Smart.

Tempest in a teapot. The shelves of every grocery store are lined with products making phony claims. Not dishonest, of course. Just phony. Meanwhile, stores like Wegman's, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, MOM's, and Fresh Market are niche grocers. Giant rules the roost with Safeway a distant second and SFW not really in the big picture in third. Given a lot of time, maybe Harris Teeter can make some inroads, but it won't happen quickly.

Marketing genius Wrote:
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> So Giant is getting their ass kicked by stores
> like Wegmans that offer higher quality at lower
> prices, and Giant's response is to lower quality
> even further?
>
> Smart.

Remember that these are Ahold people, not Giant people, making the decisions.

Is it even beef? Horse? Buffalo? Yak? I am done with Giant...will not shop there anymore. Too many options to put up with their shenanigans when it comes to my food.
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Al the Butcher Wrote:
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> Is it even beef? Horse? Buffalo? Yak? I am
> done with Giant...will not shop there anymore.
> Too many options to put up with their shenanigans
> when it comes to my food.

You're an asshole. Just sayin'. Maybe learn how to re-size graphics after you steal them.

Coming next to your Giant Meat Cooler...pre-packaged, ready roasted canine.
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I just bought some thin ribeyes the other day that were in those packages.
I was going to make some steak and cheese subs.
They were the worse I have ever had, they were so tough it was like jerky.
Never again.

I've worked for Giant over 20 years, but I don't trust Stop and Shop or Ahold. They relabeled the precut stuff, and pushed it out of their warehouse in Pa. But I know to supply all the stores, there has to be a serious amount of back stock. Since, the meat is packed in gas, it could be a week old before it's shipped out. Then in the stores, it could be another week before it goes out of date. In other words, I'm not sure the labeling is correct. I'm not sure how long before they get rid of all the Select meat and resupplied with Choice. They have lied in the article about any store carrying the Select label. No store currently carries the label..

Giant sells pink slime Wrote:
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> So whats the best chain? Wegmans, hairy titties,
> SFW?

Heh heh, "hairy titties". I call it "Hairless Tweeter"...imagery left to the reader's imagination!

Giant doesn't pay or train the workers in Pa to deliver quality meat. The workers don't know enough to properly trim so people get their money's worth. Giant's solution is now to outsource the Angus and prime beef to other companies. It will be shrinkwrapped so it will last for a month or so and gives them an excuse to raise the cost a bit. The customer won't really see what they are buying until they get home and remove the wrapping. Angus and prime only come premeasured and cut,no special orders. Special cuts of Choice (that 2 inch ribeye for the grill) will still take 2 days to arrive after ordering.

I do all my meat buying from Safeway now, as I can get the cuts and size I want.

To all the anti-Giant people, do you even know the real world? Giant is still the best. Wegmans/Harris Teeter/Whole Foods/TJ's is a disgrace to retailing.

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- Savage Vro Fartian was here -

Wow! Neahmiah Cohen....founder of Giant Foods...is probably rolling over in his grave! My dad used to be head meat buyer under him and then later...my dad is still alive and he hates this...so do I! So sad to see this going away! It is now everywhere! No more butchers!

I purchase my beef from a family beef farm in Pennsylvania. The raise and slaughter the beef on their land, and sell full, halfs, and quarter sides of beef. They cut to the customers requirements - Thickness or fat percentage.

I like 1" NY Strips and T-Bones, and ground beef at 15% fat content.

All comes vacuum packed, labeled, and flash frozen to -20F.

They take cash, good check - NO CARDS.

Good riddance, fat, lazy, overpaid union thugs!

Safeway and Whole food still use butchers to cut the meat on site. Whole food has a good selection but a tad more expensive.

Journeyman Meatcutter Wrote:
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> They have told all cutters that giant will be
> going to prepackaged meat around November 2013.
> New contract then also because contract has to be
> changed to be able to bring in pre-cut meat. I
> wonder how do they know this will pass? They are
> already building plant in York Pa. Giant was build
> on service. Customers of giant do not alway care
> about price as long as they get great service do
> no after the price giant will lose customer when
> they start this. Fact: how many ecolirecalls did
> giant have when they ground all ground beef in
> house? 0. How many now it comes in pre-ground? 10

Journeymab Meatcutter Wrote:
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> Not that ether. Because of the great union
> contract I have I will retire with 30 years of
> service at the young age of 53 with full benifits.
> But I'm the type of worker most would die to have.
> How many 53 year olds can say they worked 30 years
> at the same place. Not many and I'm sure J Hoffa
> can not say that. You'll be working till your 70
> to get.
>
> Next Novenber is the plan to start the prepack.
> Giant just went thru a contact and it is for only
> 19 months which seemed strange at the time because
> most of our contracts were for 4 to 5 years but we
> now all know why. They have to change the contract
> to be able to have the meat cut elsewhere.
>
> Yea, the union is screwing us. They are not
> helping the meatcutters at all. Most full time
> meatcutters were put down to part time last
> december and the union did nothing.


I have noticed that Giant meat prices have been lower the last few years. I guess this pre cutting had something to do with it.

I still guys coming out from the back to put meat in the bins, but I guess they aren't cutting it on site any more.

This union guy doesn't realize that in this competitive market place, customers want lower costs.

I haven't noticed any decrease in the quality of the Giant Meat since this change. In fact, this is the first I ever heard of it.

I do miss Bottom Dollar and Food Lion

Both seem to have left the area

Bottom Dollar didn't sell meat but had great prices.

I would buy meat at Safeway and everything else at Bottom Dollar.


$100 of goods at Bottom Dollar cost roughly $140 at Safeway.

Why?

One of the reasons was UNION v. NON-UNION Labor

I shop for price and quality.

Who cares how the store "looks." Well, yeah, women do care.

It is sad to see the labels on the package too "USDA GRADED"

Not even a choice cut? I don't expect prime rib in my local supermarket, but graded sounds like it barely passed with a D- I would say a choice is a C and a Select is a B and Prime is an A...

It's like saying their meat is one cut above Alpo Dog Food.

Never again!!!

From: http://www.fooducate.com/app#!page=post&id=57A35098-1187-A9B6-47A6-8D299A8C1630

Here is how the USDA ranks the beef you buy:


Prime grade is almost never found in supermarkets. This beef is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling and is generally sold in restaurants and hotels. Prime roasts and steaks are excellent for dry-heat cooking (broiling, roasting, or grilling).

Choice grade is still of high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib. They are very tender, juicy, and flavorful. They also do well with dry-heat cooking. Many of the less tender cuts, such as those from the rump, round, and blade chuck, can also be cooked with dry heat if not overcooked. Such cuts will be most tender if “braised” — roasted, or simmered with a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan.

Select grade is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades. It is fairly tender, but, because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades. Only the tender cuts (loin, rib, sirloin) should be cooked with dry heat. Other cuts should be marinated before cooking or braised to obtain maximum tenderness and flavor.

Standard grade is frequently sold as ungraded or as “store brand” meat.

Commercial grade is much the same as Standard grade.

Utility grade is seldom, if ever, sold at retail. It is used to make ground beef and processed products.

Cutter grade - same as above.

Canner grade - same as above.

You can rule Giant out since the prepack is chain-wide. You can also rule out any chains that buy shitty meat at the corporate level for their stores.

But chains that still have butchers in the stores have to be rated store by store since butchers carry a lot of clout within a supermarket and usually have plenty of latitude over how they run their departments.

For example, the Safeway on OKM and Lee Chapel has one of the lousiest market departments I've ever seen while the Safeway on the 123 end of Burke Center Parkway consistently has very good meat and seafood.

Unions kill jobs yet again. Join a union, make short-term income increase, and kill businesses and jobs in long run. So obvious, a union thug should be able to understand.

giant has more issues with it than just how foods are packaged.


their employees are assholes.

Some are fat, but just about all of them are lazy!

Hell, I saw a Giant commercial the other day that had a butcher in it hold up a roast or something (not pre-packaged) to show a customer. His ass was behind a counter and everything. False advertising!

At the Burke Centre and now the Kings Park Shopping Center location, a guy there named Philip seems to always have a problem with keeping one and rarely another checkout lane open during the evening. Sometimes the line gets backed up with customers, but that does not seem to bother him.

Now I see part of the reason why Giant seems to be going down the tubes...

be glad its prepack now. theres a reason customers arent allowed in the back areas even if you knew how moldy most giant stores are the staff dont know how to even use soap dispensers. not to mention the health inspector racket they have gooing on. litterally the managers are trained to block or delay the inspectors while other employees scramble to fix it last min. the absolute worst is the delly... not once but almost weekly i watched people redate out of date foods.

and if your food smells odd or has a chemical smell. thats the block white from suma. the clerks use block white windex and spitfire interchangeably and often the chemicals are left on the machines. and the so called sanitizer is almost never sanitizer ussually its just water in a fancy spray bottle to make customers think the meat clerk is actually cleaning .