UFCW Pickets at Nugget Markets

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 8-Golden State is picketing at a unit of Nugget Market here and urging consumers to shop at Raley's, a company with whom it has been unable to reach agreement on a new contract since October.

Jacques Loveall, president of Local 8, told SN, "We have not engaged in a labor dispute with Raley’s. If and when that happens and our members are walking picket lines in front of Raley’s stores, we would ask the public to shop at other union-affiliated stores in the area. But as long as we have a contract extension in effect, we will continue to ask shoppers to keep patronizing Raley’s stores."

The local had set up informational picket lines at a Nugget location early last October, a week before its contracts with Raley's, Safeway and Save Mart were set to expire. The union said at that time it chose to picket at at Nugget, as well as a Wal-Mart Supercenter, "because the threat these non-union employers pose is very serious. These employers have demonstrated their unwillingness to maintain standards that have been set in the grocery industry over many decades. Accordingly, we will inform the public of the negative impact they are having on the quality of jobs in the area."