A Teamsters member has been charged in a Missouri attack on an independent driver hauling for Associated Wholesale Grocers which locked the union out of its Springfield, MO, and Kansas City, KS, trucking and warehouse operations April 1.

Scott Archie was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the April 4 incident. Archie and other man allegedly pulled the driver from his truck and beat him with a steel pipe outside a convenience store. A security guard traveling with the driver videotaped the assault and told officials that the men involved in the beating shouted anti-AWG slurs.
Associated severed ties with the union, locking out 1,200 warehouse and trucking workers, alleging the Teamsters would not make cost cutting measures that the cooperative needed in order to compete with big companies like Wal-Mart. The union claims the company never negotiated in good faith.
AWG opted to use non-union, outside contractors for its warehouse and grocery operations. The Teamsters have been picketing and urging boycotts of AWG member stores, and several incidents of violence have been reported.