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<P>Dear Activists,<BR><BR>In light of Big Y's "silent treatment" (see below),
please join the <U>virtual petition</U> during <U>September 7 through 10</U>, by
asking Big Y for a meeting in any of the following ways:<BR><BR>Real mail: PO
Box 7840, Springfield, MA
01102. <BR> Telephone: (413)
784-0600 or (800) 828-2688. <BR>
Fax: (413)
732-8475. <BR>
Email: <A
href="mailto:broderic@bigy.com">mailto:broderic@bigy.com</A>. <BR>
Web form: <A
href="https://www.bigy.com/contact/index.php">https://www.bigy.com/contact/index.php</A>.<BR><BR>And
spread the word! Right now the demand is for a meeting, but we will
continue to monitor whether Big Y goes the way of Stop & Shop, quietly
removing the Tar Heel pork without admitting to. Smithfield's CEO has
publicly stated that the nationwide consumer campaign is hurting the
company.<BR><BR>Please save Thursday, October 4, probably around 4pm, for a kind
of meeting at Big Y hq, 2145 Roosevelt Avenue, Springfield. More like a
rally.<BR><BR>And you are invited to the next Justice @ Smithfield organizing
meeting, Wednesday, September 12, 7-8:30pm at the Labor Council, 640 Page Blvd,
Springfield. </P>
<P>In solidarity,</P>
<P>Jon<BR><BR>---------------------<BR><BR>For Immediate Release<BR>Contact: Jon
Weissman, (413) 827-0301<BR><BR>BIG Y REFUSES TO MEET WITH WORKER JUSTICE
DELEGATION<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>On August 16 and again on September 4, the Justice at
Smithfield Committee of Western Mass. Jobs with Justice hand-delivered letters
(copies available upon request) to Big Y’s top executives, Chairman/CEO Donald
H. D’Amour and President/COO Charles L. D’Amour. The group requests that
the D’Amours 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 conditions and the workers’ struggles to correct them can be viewed
at <A href="http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/">www.smithfieldjustice.com</A>.
<BR><BR>The delegation intended to ask Big Y to do three
things:<BR><BR>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. <BR>2. Tell Smithfield to obey the law
by contacting Joseph Luter III, CEO, Smithfield Foods, 200 Commerce St,
Smithfield VA 23430; (888) 366-6767; <A
href="mailto:information@smithfieldfoods.com">information@smithfieldfoods.com</A>.<BR>3.
Encourage other local food markets to take these steps.<BR><BR>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. <BR><BR>In response, the group may call for a meeting at Big Y
headquarters anyway, or at least on the public land in front of it, on October
4. But before doing so, it asks people who support this simple request for
a meeting to say so to Big Y during September 7 through 10, in any of the
following ways:<BR><BR>Real mail: PO Box 7840, Springfield, MA
01102. <BR>Telephone: (413) 784-0600 or (800) 828-2688. <BR>Fax: (413)
732-8475. <BR>Email: broderic@bigy.com. <BR>Web form: <A
href="https://www.bigy.com/contact/index.php">https://www.bigy.com/contact/index.php</A>.<BR><BR>-30-</P></BODY></HTML>
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