Giant Eagle employees march at HQ to address concerns

Giant Eagle employees marched outside of the company's headquarters on Thursday to demand a meeting with the CEO.

They want Laura Karet, the CEO of Giant Eagle, to address their concerns about staffing, low wages and intimidation against their own workers.

The company has cut front line staffing by 20 percent in 36 Pennsylvania stores in the past two years, but sales and customer demand still remain high, according to a release from the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 23.

Dick Roberts, a spokesperson for Giant Eagle, released the following statement:

"We appreciate each and every Team Member who works in our stores.  Unfortunately, many of the Union's statements are not accurate, and we do not believe the methods being utilized by this Union have our Team Members' interests at heart.  We will continue to work diligently to build strong relationships with our Team Members, and to have constructive dialogue regarding ways to make Giant Eagle a better place to work and shop."

"We take a lot of pride in serving our customers, but it's hard to provide quality customer service when the company isn't scheduling enough hours to adequately staff our stores," Stephanie Fello, an employee at the Giant Eagle in South Side, said.

The company filed several charges against the union, but they were recently dismissed by the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board, according to a release.

"Giant Eagle needs to get back to its roots as a family company. They need to stop intimidating their employees and start paying everyone living wages again," Sonny Linden, a Giant Eagle employee, said.

Cox Media Group