Independent Market Operator and Union on Collision Course

Dick London had paid his dues in the grocery business and decided to strike out on his own.

So, after 32 years as an employee of the Vons supermarket chain, London and a small group of investors opened Major Market in Fallbrook in 1988.

Last November, the group opened a second store in Escondido and made plans to open a third Major Market store in Mira Mesa in April.

But now London has run into an obstacle. The grocery clerks union, which has fought the new chain’s attempts to operate without a union, has been picketing both the Escondido and Fallbrook locations since December. The Escondido market is directly across the street from a Vons store, which employs union members.

The union has also sent out flyers to Escondido residents urging them not to shop at Major Markets because of alleged higher food prices.

“The goal of the campaign is to preserve the jobs of our people working at union stores,” said Tom Vandeveld, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 135, the largest union local in the county.

Vandeveld said the union took a random sample of prices of 20 or more items before it distributed its flyers, one of which claimed shoppers “pay up to 89.4% more for groceries at Major Markets!”

But London discounted the survey as part of a misinformation campaign against his markets.

“It’s just one of their typical low-ball tactics they use to confuse the consumer to hurt my business,” said London, who lives in Fallbrook.

London said all 145 of his employees were told when they were hired that the store was not unionized and that, if a majority of the employees were to vote for a union, he would negotiate with the union.

“I want to run my business the American way and let my employees decide at what point in time that a union may be in their best interest,” London said.

In the fiercely competitive Southern California market, every significant supermarket chain has union employees, Vandeveld said. The San Diego union local has grown in membership from 9,000 to 15,000 over the last 10 years, Vandeveld said.

Vandeveld said the union has no disagreement with Major Markets and that the “information campaign picketing” is a service to the consumer explaining that store’s prices are higher and that the store does not hire union employees.

But London sees it as an attempt to run him out of business.

“They see me running a profitable operation, and perhaps there’s been pressures from the big boys (in the grocery business) to the union because my business does take away from the larger food chains,” London said.

Greg Santos, the store director for Major Markets, said it is hard to tell what the effect of the picketers has been, because the store is so new, but there has been no impact at the Fallbrook store, he said.

Vandeveld conceded that the union has not asked for a vote among Major Market employees to decide on having a union, and that there have not been any attempts to organize the employees since the picket lines started on Dec. 6.

“We have informational picket lines explaining that prices are more reasonable at union stores, and we are there to protect the jobs of union workers at union stores,” Vandeveld said.

But Vandeveld said he did not know whether Major Markets has affected union stores or if any union members have lost jobs because of Major Markets. Vons officials declined to comment.

London “plans on building more stores, and the stores that he has now are big supermarkets, and they are in direct competition with our union stores, and we’re concerned about them,” Vandeveld said.

Vandeveld said more than half of the employees at Major’s Fallbrook store want the union. But he added that unions generally need 75% support to guarantee a successful vote.

All of the employees of Major Markets in Escondido who were interviewed said that they don’t want a union, and that the picketers have been doing more than just distributing information.

“They’re harassing customers and employees,” said Anita Brooks, a customer service representative. “I have had my car where shopping carts have been intentionally rammed into it.”

Other employees accuse the picketers of having strewn the parking lot with nails resulting in flat tires of both customer and employee cars.

“I took a drop of pay to work here because it’s non-union,” said Fran Marks, a checker at Major Markets who used to work at a Lucky store nearby.

Marks said the store doesn’t need a union because the size of the organization makes it easy to resolve disputes.

“If I have a problem, I could go right to Dick (London) himself and discuss it, I don’t need a union representative,” Marks said.

Marks said the employees would welcome a vote on the issue but that the union has refused to request one.

Vandeveld brushed off accusations of vandalism, pointing out that no charges have been filed against any picketer.

“We’ve been accused of a lot of things, but we haven’t had any complaints filed against us by the Police Department, and we don’t condone any kind of conduct that is not in the best interest of our membership,” Vandeveld said.

Vandeveld fired off his own volley, saying that union members have been “roughed up” while on the picket line by Major Market employees.

The union filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 14, charging London with restraining and coercing employees to prevent them from engaging in union activities. Vandeveld, however, said he was not familiar with that specific charge and could not elaborate.

Major Markets a week earlier had filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union, alleging that it has picketed for recognition of the union for more than 30 days without a vote among the employees. Both charges are being investigated.