UFW Pickets San Ysidro Vons Over Advertisement of Grapes

Representatives of the United Farm Workers of America, including the organization’s well-known president, Cesar Chavez, began picketing Thursday at a Vons store in San Ysidro as part of the union’s renewed boycott of Southern California’s largest supermarket chain.

The UFW is asking consumers not to shop at Vons--which also operates outlets under the names Pavilions and Tianguis--because of the company’s refusal to refrain from promoting the sale of California table grapes.

The boycott was renewed last month after a six-week hiatus after Vons resumed advertising sales of the grapes. Union officials say Vons reneged on an agreement not to promote grape sales, but Vickie Sanders, a spokeswoman for the Arcadia-based supermarket chain, said no such accord was ever struck and that the chain is legally bound to advertise the produce.

The UFW, contending that grape growers use pesticides that cause cancer and birth defects, has been engaged in a seven-year nationwide and international boycott of California table grapes.