UFCW 8-Golden State Continues to Protest Fresh & Easy

Not long ago the British super-corporation Tesco launched it’s Fresh & Easy chain of grocery stores here in the valley. Including myself, many have been delighted to have a new option in the neighborhood – especially since the economy took a nose dive. But the UFCW 8-Golden State (the United Food and Commercial Workers union) seem to have a different opinion. They feel the store is a threat to our local community and encourage consumers not to shop there.

Their reasoning for this is as follows:

1. Fresh and Easy pays substandard wages that lower the quality of life on our community.
2. Fresh and Easy’s low standards threaten good local businesses that provide good paying jobs.
3. Tesco refuses to afford its workers the same right to freely and promptly choose union representation as are enjoyed by employees of Save Mart, Food Maxx, Vons, Albertson’s, Foods Co. and Rite Aid.
4. Tesco, Fresh and Easy’s parent company in Britain is pulling money out of our community, state and country.
5. It’s bad enough that good American jobs are being outsourced to other countries. Now this global giant from the UK is taking advantage of American workers here on our shores.

It seems to me our friends from the UFCW8-Golden State have an honest backing guiding their purpose.  Yet at the same time, I question whether they have failed to notice many of the largest American corporations are also guilty of these 5 items. McDonald’s and Walmart are two classic examples. And, as most informed Americans know, no amount of picketing, petitioning, or boycotting is going to change they way they play ball.

This is not to say people should not stand up for what they believe. The UFCW8-Golden State should be applauded. The right to protest is an American pillar and it’s rare to see folks doing it these days. I hope they succeed in their efforts. But with Tesco’s plan’s for continued expansion, I’d say it’d take a miracle.