Business & Tech
Pickets at Fresh & Easy
Organizers from the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union want workers at the Clayton store to unionize.
Last week, representatives of the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) were in front of the Fresh & Easy in the Clayton Valley Shopping Center, handing out fliers to customers.
In it, the UFCW alleges that Fresh & Easy is engaging in unfair labor practices by preventing employees from forming a union.
Just inside the store, Fresh & Easy employees contested those allegations in a flier they were handing out.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
In a National Labor Relations Board decision Jan. 31, Fresh & Easy was found to have violated a section of the National Labor Relations Act at its Spring Valley location. The board said the store had maintained an overbroad no-distribution rule, interrogated employees and created an impression of surveillance.
The UFCW has been picketing Fresh & Easy stores throughout California, contending that the store — owned by the British firm Tesco — is siphoning money from the U.S. economy in addition to violating labor law.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
According to Evan Yeats, senior campaign communications specialist for the union, “the unfair labor practices committed by Fresh & Easy are not isolated.”
Claims have been filed with the NLRB in San Diego, Las Vegas and Riverside. The Riverside location involves the 2 Sisters Food Group, a subsidiary of Fresh & Easy that processes meat.
Yeats said that the UFCW is conducting informational pickets at multiple locations in Northern and Southern California but didn't comment on future plans.
Patch has covered the picketing in , and .
“The UFCW wants to unionize Fresh & Easy because we are growing in California," said Fresh & Easy spokesman Brandon Wonnacott. "This is what is behind the pickets.”
“Our employees have the right to unionize if they choose. It’s their democratic right. But, our workforce has decided not to join,” Wonnacott added.
“Thousands of ULP’s (unfair labor practices) are filed against companies every year through the NLRB and we win most of them,” he said.
“We stand by our commitment that Fresh & Easy is a great place to work and we will work with our employees in whatever they choose.”
