Wednesday, September 30, 2009

UFCW 8-Golden State Begins Informational Picketing at Fresh & Easy in Bakersfield, Delano

ROSEVILLE, CALIF. (Sept. 30, 2009) — UFCW 8-Golden State President Jacques Loveall announced that Union volunteers established informational picket lines at Fresh & Easy stores in Bakersfield and Delano today.

The Bakersfield stores are at 11100 Olive Drive, 5190 Stockdale Hwy. and 6601 Stine Road. The Delano store is at 611 Cecil Ave.

Loveall said the Union is asking the public not to shop at Fresh & Easy and to shop instead at stores such as Save Mart, Food Maxx, Foods Co, Albertsons and Vons.

“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,” Loveall said.

UFCW 8-Golden State represents 35,000 workingmen and women throughout the state of California.