[Antiracism] [Workers Rights] MEETING AT BIG Y 10/4

[WMass Jobs With Justice]

Dear Workers Rights Supporters,

The Western Mass. Justice @ Smithfield Committee is continuing the
"electronic petition" asking for a meeting, but is scheduling a meeting at
Big Y anyway.  Please join the delegation!  Can you be at Big Y
headquarters, 2145 Roosevelt Avenue, Springfield, at 10 AM on Thursday,
October 4?  People who plan to attend will need a preparatory briefing, so
please Reply ASAP if you will be there, and how many people you can bring
with you.

If we are asked to leave the lobby we will comply and move to the public
tree belt, with signs and leaflets for the cars at the stop light right in
front.  Other details will be worked out at the next committee meeting,
Wednesday, September 26, 7-8:30pm, AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Blvd, Springfield.

Thanks!

Jon 

---------------------------------
For Immediate Release 
Contact: Jon Weissman, (413) 827-0301 (available Saturday afternoon too)

THE BIG WHY?  WHY IS BIG Y SILENT?
WORKER JUSTICE GROUP TO MEET AT BIG Y HQ ANYWAY

It is now one month that the heads of Big Y Foods have given the cold
shoulder to a local committee supporting workers’ rights at the world’s
largest hog slaughterhouse, the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel, North
Carolina.

The group requests that Big Y’s top executives, Chairman/CEO Donald H.
D’Amour and President/COO Charles L. D’Amour, or their representative, meet
with a delegation of religious, political, community, student, and labor
leaders regarding the violent conditions under which Smithfield pork is
produced in Tar Heel.  Details about those horrible conditions and the
workers’ struggles to correct them can be viewed at
www.smithfieldjustice.com.

Despite many assurances over the phone by their secretary, Denise Broderick,
that “they’ll get back to you,” the D’Amours have seen fit to ignore this
community group.  “This is not good citizenship by a corporation chartered
by the people of Massachusetts,” said organizer Jon Weissman.

In response, the Justice at Smithfield Committee of Western Mass. Jobs with
Justice is calling for a meeting at Big Y headquarters anyway, at 10 AM on
Thursday, October 4.  The location is 2145 Roosevelt Avenue, Springfield.
And it asks people who support this simple request for a meeting to say so
to Big Y in any of the following ways:

Real mail: PO Box 7840, Springfield, MA  01102.  
Telephone: (413) 784-0600 or (800) 828-2688.  
Fax: (413) 732-8475.  
Email: broderic at bigy.com.  
Web form: https://www.bigy.com/contact/index.php. 

The delegation intends to ask Big Y to do three things:
1.	Remove Tar Heel pork [USDA Establishment Codes 18079 and 79C] from
Big Y shelves.  At recent store visits, the committee only found 79C bacon.

2.	Tell Smithfield to obey the law by contacting Joseph Luter III, CEO,
Smithfield Foods, 200 Commerce St, Smithfield VA 23430; 888-366-6767;
information at smithfieldfoods.com.
3.	Encourage other local food markets to take these steps.

-30-

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