Union calls for Fred Meyer boycott as talks drag on

(Update: Adding comments from director of corporate affairs of Fred Meyer and UFCW Local 555 communications director)

The union representing thousands of Fred Meyer workers in Oregon and southwest Washington called on consumers Sunday to boycott the grocery chain, accusing the company of unfair labor practices ahead of another round in 15 months of negotiations that also involve Albertsons and Safeway stores in the region.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 issued the Fred Meyer boycott call in a press release on Sunday, claiming the chain and its parent firm, Kroger, have ” refused to respond to reasonable pleas to fix gross inequity in pay ” and also ” committed unfair labor practices to coerce employees to settle for less. ”

Local 555 Communications Director Kelley McCallister told NewsChannel 21 on Monday the boycott stemmed from mistreatment of employees.

” In one case, we’re looking for fair wages, regardless of how long they’ve been with the company, regardless of gender, regardless of age, any of those things, ” McCallister said.

McCallister told NewsChannel 21 they are boycotting Fred Meyer stores in Local 555′ s jurisdiction that do not have open contracts, including non-unionized stores like the store in Redmond.

NewsChannel 21 also spoke Monday with Jeffery Temple, Fred Meyer’s director of corporate affairs. He said boycotting the stores would do more harm than good for the company, the workers and their customers.

” We love our associates, they’re the heart of our company, ” Temple said. ” Our goal really is to achieve a fair and balanced outcome as soon as possible for both our associates and our stores. ”

Jeff Anderson, secretary-treasurer of Local 555, said in Sunday’s announcement. ” If Fred Meyer won’t listen to workers’ voices, perhaps they will listen to the sound of departments devoid of shoppers. ”

The union said Fred Meyer has refused to address ” livable wages for its workers ” and has shown ” disinterest in closing the gender equity gap by more than a dime a year. ”

The union, which represents 25,000 members, said negotiations also will be taking place Thursday and Friday with Fred Meyer, as well representatives of Albertsons, Safeway and QFC , after recent votes to authorize strikes.

UFCW Local 555 President Dan Clay said, “We call on our communities to make sure Kroger and Fred Meyer understand our Northwest values of decency, dignity, and respect by shopping elsewhere until our members are treated in accordance with those values.”

Temple provided a statement to KPTV in Portland regarding the union call for a boycott:

” At Fred Meyer, we are proud of our 97 years of putting people before profits, and we love our associates. Our purpose is to Feed the Human Spirit, and we know that recent allegations intended to make Fred Meyer look like an unfair or uncaring employer are an unfortunate misrepresentation of the reality for our great associates.

” The truth is that these actions don’t help the negotiation process at all, and calls to boycott Fred Meyer hurt associates and their families, customers and communities, and ironically help competitors, many of which are non-union.

” Our goal is to reach a fair and balanced agreement that works well for our associates and our stores as soon as possible. Our next meetings with union negotiators are on 9/26 and 9/27. It is business as usual in our stores, and we want to thank our associates for serving our customers as they always have. They do a great job and we are very proud. At Fred Meyer, we are going to keep our focus where it should be, on our associates and taking care of our customers. ”

The company has an online page with updates on the negotiations, and the union does as well.