SF Hearing For Grocery Workers Retention Ordinance

Confronted by the sale and closures of Cala Foods and Bell Markets in San Francisco and the sale of Albertson's stores to a New York investment company, SF grocery store workers took another step forward in the struggle to preserve their jobs and livliehoods. On Monday, 17 April, the Committee on City Operations and Neighborhood Services held hearings on a proposed Grocery Workers Retention Ordinance introduced by Supervisor Fiona Ma and co-sponsored by a majority of the Board of Supervisors.

Dozens of grocery workers attended the hearing, chaired by Supervisor Bevan Dufty, and offered testimony in support of the legislation. Union leaders, including Tim Paulson of the SF Labor Council, and representatives from the Teamsters and the United Farm Workers, publically shared their support. President of UFCW Local 648/SF, Mike Sharpe spoke of the anxieties caused among store workers by the prospect of losing their jobs and saluted the Supervisors for providing hope for the employees. A Safeway employee, William Sable, vigorously defended the proposed Ordinance, stating that there is no substitute for experienced professionals in providing the food that San Franciscans put on their tables; he cited Sir Walter Scott's observation that
" it's not fish ye're buying - it's men's lives".

In a moment of some drama, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd joined the Committee to offer his own co-sponsorship of the legislation, saying that as a former employee of Tower Market, he stood in full support of the grocery workers.

The proposed Ordinance was opposed by a representative from the California Grocer's Association on the grounds that health and saftey issues in stores were already highly regulated and that such legislation would adversely affect the opening of new stores in the City.

The Ordinance will be considered by the full Board of Supervisors at its meeting scheduled for Tuesday, 25 April, 2:00 PM.