`Justice Must be Served' -- Statement by the Southern California UFCW Presidents Concerning the Grand Jury Indictments against Ralphs.

LOS ANGELES -- Southern California's Local UFCW Unions are pleased with the 53-count indictment returned today against Ralphs Grocery Co. by a federal grand jury, said the presidents of five Local UFCW Unions in Southern California.

The 104-page document alleges that, during the 2003-2004 labor dispute between the Unions and the three major supermarket chains, Ralphs violated criminal laws by secretly hiring back Union members using false names and Social Security numbers.

The Union presidents are also pleased that the United States Attorney announced at today's press conference that the investigation against Ralphs is "ongoing" and that this indictment is only a "first step" in achieving justice for Southern California's grocery store workers.

The Unions are nevertheless troubled that another federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board, has not taken seriously its obligations to protect workers under the National Labor Relations Act.

Despite today's indictment by the Department of Justice, and despite the detailed, far-reaching factual allegations of Ralphs' criminal conduct, the NLRB has chosen, thus far, not to issue a complaint against Ralphs for its misconduct.

The Union presidents said that this is probably the biggest case in NLRB history, and yet the NLRB has performed only a cursory investigation into the facts. In addition, two days before receiving a full report from the Department of Justice about its investigation, the NLRB dismissed most of the Unions' charges against Ralphs. Even more outrageously, the NLRB knew the DOJ report was forthcoming and essentially ignored its sister agency's findings, they said.

The Unions have appealed the NLRB's decision.

The NLRB's failure to execute its obligations also has compelled U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, as well as U.S. Reps. Xavier Becerra, Bob Filner, Hilda Solis and Henry Waxman, to write letters of complaint to Arthur Rosenfeld, General Counsel of the NLRB.

In light of the Justice Department's thorough and ongoing investigation, and in light of today's indictment against Ralphs, the NLRB must wake up and perform its obligations under federal law, said the presidents. The NLRB must issue a complaint against Ralphs for its misconduct, they said.

Justice must be served. Southern California's grocery workers and their families deserve nothing less, said the presidents.

The five Southern California Local UFCW Union presidents referenced in this release are:

Mickey Kasparian, Local 135
Greg Conger, Local 324
Rick Icaza, Local 770
Bill Lathrop, Local 1167
Connie Leyva, Local 1428