Hungry for Respect, Somos America, ACORN and LIUNA will staged simultaneous actions at Food City stores in Phoenix and Tucson today. The community groups are demanding that Food City respect their employees, their shoppers and the communities they operate in.
The Hungry for Respect Coalition exposed the widespread stocking and selling of expired baby formula in Food City stores in Phoenix, Yuma and Tucson in May and June 2007. According to the coalition, instead of taking responsibility for what the corporation did, Food City management attacked members of the community who had asked for answers. To this day, Food City still refuses to acknowledge their mistake and apologize to their shoppers.
Food City's lack of accountability prompted more than 10,000 Food City shoppers to sign a pledge not to shop at Food City until they acknowledge their mistake and respect employees, shoppers and the community. More are signing the "Soy Uno Mas Que No Compra En Food City" pledge every day.
"This corporation no longer reflects the values of the family that bears its name. The corporatization of this family owned company means that employees, shoppers and the community are simply no longer respected," said Hector Yturralde of Somos America.
Phoenix protests will begin at 10 am at Food City #146 located at 4338 W Thomas Road.
The Tucson protest will begin at 10 am at Food City #77 located at 2950 S 6th Avenue.
Hungry for Respect is a coalition of grocery store employees, their union and community allies. More information can be found at www.hungryforrespect.org