Pledging support: UFW President Arturo Rodriguez and Lucky’s General manager Allen Zeitz sign agreement in San Jose.
For Release: May 30, 1997
Momentum builds in strawberry workers’ drive
as next big supermarket takes stand
A United Farm Workers campaign to organize strawberry workers picked up more steam on May 30 when Lucky supermarkets, part of American Stores(Jewles/Acme)-the nation’s third largest retail food chain endorsed basic rights for 20,000 California berry pickers. Ralphs and A&P have also embraced the effort.
"With this announcement, three out of the nation’s top 10 supermarket companies- covering more than 3,000 stores in 19 states and two Canadian provinces-have taken a stand for strawberry workers’ rights," notes UFW President Arturo Rodriguez.
American Stores is the third big U.S. food retailer to publicly back worker rights that are the centerpiece of a major joint organizing drive sponsored by the UFW and the AFL-CIO. . Lucky has 428 stores in California. American Stores also owns Acme and Jewel, the biggest food retailers in Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively.
Under the agreement, Lucky endorses the right of strawberry harvesters to organize and bargain with growers under California’s farm labor law without fear of discrimination. Other provisions of the UFW-Lucky pact embrace "the right to seek enforcement of laws and regulations for proper field sanitation, clean drinking water and [hand]-washing facilities."
"Momentum is building for change in California strawberry fields," Rodriguez declares. On April 13, 30,000 farm workers and supporters marched through Watsonville, the heart of strawberry growing country, in what observers describe as the largest demonstration for a union organizing campaign in recent history.
With the Lucky/American stores agreement, more than 40% of the supermarket industry in Southern California has supported the UFW drive. It is 23% of retail food stores in Northern California. "Lucky’s action is a step forward for long-awaited progress for strawberry workers," Rodriguez observes.
"Lucky deserves the community’s commendation and gratitude," he says. "This kind of support for farm workers from the supermarket industry is unprecedented in the 35-year history of the UFW," adds Cesar Chavez’s successor as union president.
UFW and AFL-CIO leaders joined American Stores executives to announce the agreement at same-day news conferences in Los Angeles, San Jose, Philadelphia and Chicago.