``Hero Awards'' Rally to Mark One-Year Anniversary of Gigante Dignity Campaign.Business Editors PICO RIVERA Pico Rivera (pē`kō rĭvĕr`ə), city (1990 pop. 59,177), Los Angeles co., SW Calif., SE of Los Angeles on the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers; inc. 1958 with the union of Pico and Rivera into one community. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2000 Several hundred union members and community activists will celebrate Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo (Spanish; “Fifth of May”) Mexican holiday commemorating the Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862. The French army, better-equipped and far larger than the Mexican army, had been sent by Napoleon III to conquer Mexico. by demonstrating at the Gigante Supermarket in Pico Rivera from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (corner of Whittier and Rosemead boulevards). A press conference will be conducted at 11 a.m. at which members of the "Demand Dignity Campaign" will present Hero Awards to Latino political leaders who have supported their cause from the beginning. State Sen. Joe Dunn
Cinco de Mayo will mark one year since the Mexico City-based retailer opened its first store in the Los Angeles market. In September 1999 a coalition of community activists and labor leaders launched the "Demand Dignity Campaign" in an effort to boost the standards of living for the company's mostly Latino workforce. Since the campaign's formal kick-off, the U.S. Labor Department The Department of Labor (DOL) administers federal labor laws for the Executive Branch of the federal government. Its mission is "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working has launched an official investigation into Gigante's employment practices, charging the company with labor law labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class of workers dependent on wages as their source of income. violations. The first hearing on those charges is scheduled for Aug. 21. "This rally is another way we can let the public know that this campaign is still going strong," said union organizer Rick Eiden. "We are committed to being a resource for these workers as long as Gigante insists on treating them like second-class citizens." The Hero Awards represent just one way the campaign plans to thank its highly visible and vocal supporters in the political arena. Cynthia Bell, coordinator of the Demand Dignity Campaign, described the awards as a symbol of the campaign's appreciation. "Change never comes about without help from community leaders like the ones who have been on our side since day one," said Bell. |
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