Giant, Safeway Workers Rally Customer Support As Bargaining Battle Heats Up

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Hundreds of UFCW Local 400 members headed into Giant and Safeway stores in Maryland, Virginia, and DC yesterday to ask for customer support in their battle for a fair contract. “Our members have sacrificed for many years to make Giant and Safeway the profitable powerhouses they are,” said Local 400 President Tom McNutt. “Yet management has the audacity to demand givebacks… What these two companies have failed to realize is that our members are united in their fierce determination to start receiving their fair share of the prosperity their hard work generates — and they are ready to do whatever it takes.” Yesterday Local 400 members asked customers to sign and deliver cards pledging their support of the workers’ effort to receive living wages, strengthened health and retirement security, and more predictable and fair hours. “It was really gratifying to see how our customers responded when we talked to them about what we’re up against,” said Sharon Glaser, who works at a Safeway in Rockville, MD. “They know how the middle class is being squeezed out of existence by corporate greed and they don’t want the money they spend on food going to drive us further down the economic ladder. I’m proud to serve them in the store and proud to call them my friends and allies in our battle for a fair contract.” McNutt agreed, saying “If they don’t already, Giant and Safeway will soon know they’re not only up against 17,000 of their own workers, but hundreds of thousands of customers and neighbors in the DC area and all 1.3 million UFCW members.”