LAYOFFS VIOLATE CONTRACT, WORKERS SAY

ARCADIA, Calif. -- A decision by Vons here, a division of Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif., to close two stores in Fresno, Calif., has resulted in an unspecified number of layoffs that threaten to turn into an age-discrimination face-off.

and Commercial Workers union, though he declined to specify what the agreement requires. Officials at UFCW Local 1288 in Fresno did not return SN's calls.

Vons closed the two stores in Fresno, in central California, earlier this month "because they were not living up to expectations," Rice said. Some employees from those stores were assigned to other Vons stores in the area, but because there were too many employees to fill too few jobs, several people were laid off, he said.

He declined to pinpoint the number, though local sources estimated it to be approximately 45.

Some of those workers told local media that at least 20 of the laid-off workers were over age 40 and had been with Vons long enough to be protected under seniority rules in the chain's union contract.