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Eagle stores will keep disabled workers
Exception made to new owner's no-contractor rule
lets workers stay
Feb.
12, 2000
By Gestin
Suttle
The News Tribune
Lowe's
Co. will allow disabled contract employees to continue working at its Eagle
Hardware & Garden stores in Puyallup, Tacoma and Federal Way.
The North Carolina company, which purchased the Renton-based Eagle chain in
April last year, had said earlier that it would let the workers go because
Lowe's has a policy against employing contractors in its stores.
But the decision to dismiss those workers "was an oversight and a mistake on our
part and it should not have happened," said Brian Peace, vice president of
corporate communications for Lowe's in North Wilkesboro, N.C.
In the process of consolidating operations, the company initially saw its
contracts with the workers' agencies - Vadis Northwest in Sumner and Northwest
Center in Seattle -- as business contracts, Peace said. However, he said, the
contracts are actually more socially oriented and
should have been regarded differently.
"In this case, this was a community outreach, a community relations issue, that
frankly was handled as a business matter without asking the proper questions,"
Peace said. "It was something that we certainly regret and something that we
will not allow to happen again."
The news was sweet music to the workers' ears, said Becky Raplee, operations
manager of Vadis. The workers "were all so excited to hear that they didn't have
to move to a different location or search for a different job, but that they
could continue to work in the place that they love," she said.
Eleven people with developmental disabilities have worked at Eagle stores in
Puyallup and Tacoma as contractors with Vadis Northwest, while six other workers
with disabilities hold jobs at the Federal Way Eagle store through Northwest
Center of Seattle. One worker at the Puyallup store has already been transferred
to another work site, and Vadis is in the process of finding him a job, Raplee
said.
Both Vadis and Northwest Center help people with physical or mental disabilities
get and keep jobs. The crews at the Eagle stores have an on-site supervisor
employed by the agencies.
The crews were going to be phased out by the end of April. Now they can stay on
at four hours a day, said Glinda Victorine, the Vadis on-site supervisor for the
Puyallup store.
Darwin Wells, who has worked at Eagle in Puyallup for more than six years, was
glad to hear that he could stay, said his mother, Romona Wells.
"He said, 'Thank you, God,'" Romona Wells said, adding, "I just had goose bumps
from the top of my head to the tip of my toes" upon hearing the news.
Romona Wells said that before Lowe's executives changed their plans - and her
son first was told he would have to leave Eagle - he cried.
"He was very sad," she said. "He understood it. He leaned over and hugged me. I
said, 'We know things are going to work out, Darwin... God's got a plan for you,
Darwin, so it's all going to work out. Either the jobs are going to get saved or
he's got something better for you."
Raplee was at first surprised to hear of Lowe's change of heart.
"I understand it's a much bigger business (than the local chains); I didn't
think that they would change their policy or their stance. I'm grateful that
they have," she said. She also said she was thankful to the community, "for all
their letters and support."
Peace said Lowe's received dozens of phone calls, letters and e-mails from
customers in the Puget Sound region expressing disappointment in the impending
loss of the workers.
"Clearly customer input made us recognize the magnitude of the issue," he said.
But, Peace said, he believes the company would have made the decision to let the
workers stay "independent of that communication."
Peace also pointed out the company does employ a number people with disabilities
directly in its stores -- not as contractors. It is active in the Special
Olympics, including sending more than 300 Lowe's employees at company expense to
the games to serve as volunteers and work
with athletes and their family members.
Raplee said a lot of good has come from the situation. After seeing a report of
the impending layoffs in The News Tribune, the manager of Home Depot in Puyallup
contacted Vadis about employing a crew at that store, she said.
And even though the Vadis workers at Eagle are staying put, the Home Depot
manager still wants to proceed with the venture, she said.
"They would like a full-time crew," she said.
Peace said that while Lowe's prefers to hire all its employees directly, it has
become clear that "the agency relationship as it's currently configured is the
appropriate one in this case."
The initial plans to let the workers go, he said, "Is not what we intended by
any means ... for that we are truly embarrassed."
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