In a front page story in last week’s Chelsea Record, it was stated that the Chelsea Collaborative and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) had banded together to create a solidarity fund that would be distributed to out-of-work Market Basket employees.
That, however, was not the case and it appears that the national union did not have full information prior to making the announcement.
Chelsea Collaborative Director Gladys Vega said she had only agreed to allow UFCW to use office space at the Collaborative to distribute the funds and had never agreed to be part of a solidarity fund.
“We had no knowledge of this announcement and were not part of this effort, except we gave them approval for limited access to office space so they could distribute to workers from a central location,” said Vega. “We were not and are not part of the solidarity fund and cancelled our minimal involvement after learning of this. We stood with the Market Basket employees and still do.”
The UFCW on Tuesday issued a correction apologizing for jumping the gun on the announcement.
“An earlier version of this release incorrectly identified the Chelsea Collaborative as a partner in establishing the solidarity fund for Market Basket workers,” read the correction. “Although Chelsea Collaborative office space was used to distribute solidarity funds on Aug. 25 and 29, the Chelsea Collaborative does not control or administer the fund. Market Basket workers with further questions regarding the solidarity fund can contact [email protected]. Unfortunately our office had a miscommunication on the role of the Chelsea Collaborative with the solidarity fund. We apologize for the inconvenience.”