FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          
May 31, 2007                                                                        

  Grocery Workers Rally to Demand Ralphs Prove They Are Telling the Truth About Their Contract Proposal
They Tell Dave Hirz, Ralphs President, to Sign a Pledge with a Personal Guarantee

WHAT:           Grocery workers rally at Ralphs Corporate HQ to demand that Dave Hirz put up his own money to guarantee his contract proposal
 WHEN:           10 AM, Thursday, May 31^th
 WHERE:         Ralphs Corporate Headquarters
                        1100 W. Artesia Blvd.
                        Compton, CA.  90220

 Grocery negotiations are coming to a head in Southern California.  Employers are attempting to scuttle negotiations by deliberately underfunding the proposed contract’s health care fund, risking a mid-contract health care fund bankruptcy that could threaten benefits for over 80,000 grocery workers in Southern California. 

Employers are proposing a 50% cut in employer contributions over last year, a rate that will jeopardize coverage for tens of thousands of employees and their families.  This is a familiar tactic for the employers, and one they used in recent years to force mid-contract benefit reductions or dramatic premium increases in Houston, Dallas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indianapolis and Eugene and Portland Oregon.

Despite this track record, Ralphs President Dave Hirz has publicly stated that he believes his severe reductions in health care contributions will keep the fund solvent.

Grocery workers are asking him to put his money where his mouth is and sign a written pledge personally guaranteeing to make up any shortages with either Ralphs funds or Hirz’s own personal money.  If Hirz is so confident in his numbers, he should have no problem signing the pledge. 

The event will feature a rally of threatened grocery workers and their families, and will have union officials available to discuss the particulars of the employers’ plan and its potential consequences on the 80,000 Southern California grocery workers impacted by this contract.