Flyers were posted in the windows of San Francisco's 24th Street Real Food grocery store as a reminder that this Labor Day was the 6th anniversary of the store closure that shut down their efforts to join a union and cost all 31 employees their jobs. The "Real Food Company" was a popular community natural food store in the heart of San Francisco's Noe Valley on the main commercial street there, 24th Street.

The store was sold by it's local owners in 2002 to an out of state corporation which, just prior to Labor Day 2003, closed it without warning, which cost all of the store's employees their jobs. The closure shocked Noe Valley residents who had supported The Real Food store for over three decades. According to the corporate owners, a full-scale store remodel was in the works. Terminated employees, however, said that the closure was undertaken to prevent them from joining a union.

After a hearing to determine the facts, the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) in San Francisco found that the workers were fired for attempting to join a union, and that decision was upheld by a second NLRB panel in Washington, D.C. A court appeal was filed by the store's owners. The workers have gone on with their lives, as they await a final court decision.

Read More