Four resign from Honest Weight Food Co-op board

"The rest of the group really feels very strongly the member labor program is somehow defensible, and they are willing to defend it," said Deborah Dennis, the immediate past president of the board who is among the four who resigned Tuesday evening.

Carolynn Presser, a newly elected board member who now serves as secretary, said any decision to expand or eliminate the member worker program has to be made by the members themselves.

"The Co-op remains strong, as shown by our largest-ever most recent membership meeting, and the continued engagement of members and staff in the ongoing process of the Co-op's evolution," the board members said in their statement.

While we regret the hasty and unexpected actions of our former fellow Board members, those actions are now behind us, and we look forward to working together to move the Co-op into the next chapter of its history, as a vibrant valuable resource and thriving organization contributing to our region's economic and social strength.

Presser said a hiring freeze was approved at the board's first meeting on Dec. 15, though exceptions were made for people who were in the process of being hired.

The Associated Press reported this week the City Market in Burlington, Vt., phased out its member work program for one that gives members credit for community volunteering similar to what was proposed in Albany.

A state Labor Department spokesman told the Times Union in November no co-op in New York had ever been cited for minimum wage violations, and the question of whether members should be paid would depend on how ownership is structured.