As we are nearing our holiday shopping, please stop to remember the following reasons NOT to shop at Safeway Stores:
1. THE SHELVES ARE EMPTY. The skilled workers at Summit Logistics who deliver to Safeway stores are on strike. "Replacement workers" can't do the job.
2. THERE MAY BE HEALTH ISSUES. There have been reports that poultry has been transported to Safeway stores in un-refrigerated trucks.
3. SUPPORT OUR STANDARDS. Every other grocery warehouse pays its' truck drivers on an hourly basis. Summit Logistics, our employer, pays by the delivery.
4. SUMMIT LOGISTICS IS UNSAFE. Summit Logistic trucks are cited by the highway patrol and police between 4 and 7 times more often than their competition.
5. WE ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS. We are career employees at Summit. We raise our kids here, we pay our taxes here, we do our shopping here. We are asking for simple justice - a safe and healthy work environment.
The SWEATSHOP CONDITIONS that the drivers at Safeway's warehouse tell about, can be confirmed as true and well known by the company as evidence by the paragraph in the following company's "NEWS LETTER" sent home in the mail to every driver's family (dated April 2000). "It is very difficult for a driver to meet the expectations of family, friends, and the job - and still have time to get the rest they need to be an alert and safe driver while on the road. To insure that our drivers get the rest they need, we would ask that family and friends not demand so much of them that they are not able to get the rest they need. We know that none of us want to be on the road with a driver of an 80,000 lb. truck who is not able to stay awake. This letter implores the families not to demand so MUCH of their husbands and fathers so that the company can take care more of the few and precious and personal hours a week taking away quality time that would be spent with their families. ALL OF THIS BECAUSE OF MANDATORY OVERTIME AT NO OVERTIME RATE. They would like for us to drive right up to the point where we are LEGALLY UNSAFE to drive. This should be a slap in the face to all drivers, workers, and their families. Don't think this practice won't spread throughout this industry and other industries. Your own children may work under these conditions and it will become common practice throughout the workforce if we do not stop this abusive practice here and now.