In the past, Hy-Vee employees used to receive a free meal from the stores food/restaurant (hy-chi, Mia Italian) during their shift if they worked Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. The rest of the week the meals were $7.

Employees were informed that the free corporate weekend meals would be dissolved in the new year. Many employees immediately expressed frustration with this. A lot of employees look forward to these meals on their weekend shift, and taking that away is disheartening. As a store that is "employee-owned," it does not seem fair that employees are having this taken away, especially during a time of economic hardship.

The company has changed the price of these employee meals to be $5 every day of the week. Although this is cheaper than the original $7, it is still not in the employees best interest. 

Hy-Vee employees are requesting that these meals stay; if not, a pay raise for all employees seems adequate to make up.

The NLRA (National Labor Relations Act) protects workplace democracy by providing employees at private-sector workplaces the fundamental right to seek better working conditions and designation of representation without fear of retaliation.

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) guarantees employees "the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection," as well as the right "to refrain from any or all such activities."

Section 8(a)(1) of the Act makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer "to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7" of the Act.

https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/interfering-with-employee-rights-section-7-8a1