On the death anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, employees, members and supporters of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union held a rally in the afternoon in support of union rights and safer working conditions for employees at the on Eagle Rock Boulevard.
"Martin Luther King Jr. died today 43 years ago in support of workers and for racial and economic equality," said UFCW Field Campaign Coordinator Jeff Ferro. "These workers also want fair treatment—they want a seat at the table, the right to dispute and discuss and not be in fear of harassment and terminations."
Ferro said that Fresh & Easy workers at the Eagle Rock Boulevard store gathered 16 signatures for a petition to unionize on March 26, 2010 but that the British-owned supermarket chain Tesco, which owns Fresh & Easy, defeated the workers' efforts by replacing the store's manager with an employee who brought in six additional workers evidently loyal to the management and increasing the total number of employees from 28 to 34. The 16 signatures ceased to represent a majority, Ferro said, and the workers wishing to unionize did not press their demands until today.
"We want to inform the community about what this company stands for," Ferro added. "It talks about values but these are the values they hold—there's a big gap between the things they say they do and what they actually do."
Brendon Wonnacott, a spokesman for Fresh & Easy in the company's El Segundo headquarters, said that "unionization is completely up to the employees [and] retaliation is against the law." Asked if Fresh & Easy had ever fired an employee for demanding unionization, Wonnacott said he could not comment on individual instances. But he added that "the company has upheld the law" regarding any employee's desire to unionize—effectively implying that no workers had been fired for asserting their right to join a labor union.
At the 1:00 minute mark a title appears identifying a speaker as "Jose Cigala, From Councilmember Alacom's office". I believe that would be Jose SIGALA, an aide to Council Member Richard ALARCON. If Patch really wants to be taken seriously as a community information board then you need to at the very least identify officials by their correct names.
Ken Camp, Los Angeles
again, I'm sorry about the editing - we will have a corrected video up tomorrow. Also watch for an indepth story about the union's conflict with Fresh&Easy, probably published tomorrow. For the record, Michael was cut off finishing the sentence at "good company to work for".
There are two legally recognized methods to unionize a workforce. One is through a secret ballot election held by the National Labor Relations Board, after at least 30% of the employees have requested that election in writing. The other option is to present proof that 50% + 1 of the employees request unionization to the employer. In that case the employer can voluntarily unionize the workforce.
Besides am I the only one that is sensitive to the fact that we've already kicked the English out of the old USA for taking advantage of workers. 1776 - In all seriousness I say we take back the tea party concept and have a big old protest on the 4th of July.
Yes, the levels of unemployment are scary right now in CA. However at the same time I feel lucky to have a job right now, I am outraged at the notion that employers take advantage of our fear of unemployment. It is strange that F&E give off this small neighborhood store vibe, when they are really anything but. Their low prices are driven by the fact that they are faceless corporation and that they ultimately have no investment in our community. Yes it is too expensive for me but Figueroa Produce Market is closer to the kind of place I would like to shop. I suppose if only they had a selection of well chosen cheaper products, I would do much more of my shopping there. Also from an environmental standpoint, what is the deal with F&E and even Trader Joe's. There is way too much packaging on everything. It would be nice if they could come up with a way to reduce/remove the packaging, rather than just making it biodegradable or what not.
The staff are always friendly and helpful. I will continue to shop there as they work towards unionization because in this economy they clearly need the work.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/union-35593-fresh-easy.html. I don't know who to believe. Why is only F&E is targeted and the same does not go on at Trader Joe's. T&J is also owned by a faceless German corporation. Non of the other markets in the area, Super A, Super King etc are unionized. People question the motives before taking sides, corporations and unions can be both evil manipulators.
No one wants you to stop shopping there completely and forever, because that would be just counter productive in the long run. Once in a while though, when it's not absolutely necessary that you go in that instance, maybe you could go somewhere else. It just lets F&E know that the community is not only aware of what is going on, but that they support the employees. It may not seem like it makes a difference, but it really does add when enough people walk away. Any ways, just think about it :D