ADVISORY/Federal Agency Charges Gigante Supermarkets With Labor Law Violations.

News Editors

ADVISORY...for Friday (March 10)

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)

March 9, 2000

WHAT:   Press Conference

WHEN:   Friday, March 10 at 4 p.m.

WHERE:  2670 N. Main St., Suite 370

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) plans to press charges against Gigante Supermarkets for violating federal labor laws that are designed to protect workers' rights to freedom of association and freedom of speech.

Representatives from the Gigante Dignity Campaign, a coalition of community organizations and labor unions, will detail the violations at a news conference outside the company's United States Corporate offices in Santa Ana, March 10, at 4 p.m. at 2670 N. Main St., Suite 370.

High-profile Latino elected officials, including State Senator Joseph Dunn and Assemblyman Lou Correa, will also speak to the media in an effort to demonstrate their solidarity with the campaign that seeks to bring dignity to the company's mostly Latino workforce.

Gigante Supermarkets, a Mexico City-based grocery chain, has been embroiled in controversy since September 1999 when it opted to hire a workforce at roughly half the wage rate paid to white workers performing the exact same jobs in other parts of the county.

Representatives from local labor unions approached workers from the store early in its operation, only to be harshly rebuffed by company officials. Within days of the union's low-key efforts to speak with store employees, Gigante officials began intimidating and punishing workers who demonstrated any support for the union, according to Cynthia Bell, coordinator for the Gigante Dignity Campaign.

Organizer for Orange County-based UFCW Local 324, Rick Eiden, said the federal charges validate what the Gigante Dignity Campaign has been saying all along. "We have witnessed this company's dirty tricks and underhanded tactics for months. Gigante accused us of making it all up. Finally, federal law enforcement authorities have confirmed that everything we've been saying is true," Eiden said.

Dozens of top-ranking Latino leaders have publicly sided with the Gigante Dignity Campaign, openly condemning the company for what many have labeled "blatant racial discrimination."

"I think Gigante corporate officials thought that Latinos in the United States just accepted being treated like second-class citizens without making any waves. They didn't realize that those days have been over for a long time," Bell said.