July 28, 2004 9:43 AM

Today's buzzword is "flexibility"
Posted by at 9:43 AM

Some 6,400 Shaw's Supermarket employees are set to walk off the job Saturday when a new contract deadline expires. The main issue is an increasingly common one heard in the halls these days: The company which owns 39 Shaw's stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, says spiraling healthcare costs are forcing them to cut back on employee health benefits. A Shaw's spokesman said, "Some of things we need to get control of are dramatically increasing health care costs, and we need more flexibility in how we run the business."

While employees are indeed one of the largest cost factors in operating a viable business, it's sometimes difficult for those who likely earn the least, and have the least say in the corporate structure, to hear calls for "flexibility" in [insert workplace issue here: "raises","compensation","job security","benefits"]. I wonder if there isn't a way Shaw's can "get control" of some of the other things that don't necessarily affect the bottom line of those who do the lion's share of the labor.
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