Unions Hold Grocery Strike Summit Statewide

Coalition Unveils Strategy

 

LOS ANGELES – Friday, December 19. Today a coalition of union leaders from around California gathered in Los Angeles for a summit and mapped out a coordinated statewide strategy to support the grocery workers' strike.

”We are offering a good faith gesture to the employers by calling off the pickets at distribution centers,” said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFLCIO.

“We’re asking Albertsons and Ralphs to return the gesture by allowing locked out workers back in time for the holidays.”

The coalition announced plans to:

• Take down the picket lines at distribution centers for Albertsons and Ralphs stores where workers are locked out as a gesture of good faith

• Ask Albertsons and Ralphs to return that good faith action by allowing locked out workers back to work for the holidays

• Collect $1,200,000 in food and financial support for striking and locked out workers in addition to the $781,000 already given

• Move the pickets to Northern California and develop an adopt-a-store program

• Increase protest action at undisclosed Safeway locations all over the state

• Deliver worksite flyers to 2.1 million union members urging them to join the picket lines – and –

• Call for congressional hearings

Pulaski also called for the resignation of Safeway CEO Steve Burd “for the good of the company,” noting that Safeway’s stock was recently downgraded by Morgan Stanley.

Present at the summit were Pulaski; Miguel Contreras, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, LA County Federation of Labor; Sean Harrigan, Executive Director of the UFCW State Council; and leaders from AFSCME, Building Trades, CWA, IATSE, IBEW, SAG, SEIU and UNITE!

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