UFCW
8-Golden State President Jacques
Loveall announced that Union activists established informational
picket lines at two newly-opened Fresh & Easy stores in Sacramento today.
The picket lines are in front of the Fresh & Easy stores at 4410 Mack
Road and 2538 Watt Ave. Both stores opened on March 7.
Additional picket lines will be established at three other Fresh & Easy
Outlets that are scheduled to open tomorrow, March 14. These stores are
located at 8430 Elk Grove Florin Road in Elk Grove, 741 E. Joiner
Parkway in Lincoln and 25000 Blue Ravine Road in Folsom. The Union
continues its informational picket lines in front of Fresh & Easy stores
in several other locations in Northern and Central California.
Loveall said the Union is asking the public not to shop at Fresh & Easy
and to shop instead at stores such as Bel Air, Corti Bros., Food Maxx,
Foods Co, Food Source, Raley's, Rite Aid, Safeway and Save Mart.
"Tesco, which is Fresh & Easy's parent company in the United Kingdom, is
siphoning money out of our community," Loveall said. "We are responding
to that provocation.
"California has enough challenges without a foreign company coming in
with substandard jobs that threaten good, local companies that bring
value and good jobs to our community.
"It's bad enough good American jobs are exported overseas at an alarming
rate. Now this global giant from the UK is coming to our country
thinking they can take advantage of American workers on our own turf,"
Loveall said.
"We will not allow that to happen," he said.
Loveall noted that Fresh & Easy's incursion into the United States poses
a threat to Union market share and to the living standards of Union
members' wages and benefits.
"Our members are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that workers
at Fresh & Easy have the same access to the good pay, health care,
pension and job security enjoyed by Union members," he said.
UFCW 8-Golden State represents working men and women throughout the
state of California.
