| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 6, 2002 |
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Winco Foods Faces Racketeering Allegations Lino Paul, a former Winco worker and Sudanese refugee, announced a lawsuit today that will be filed in federal court charging Winco with racketeering and violation of federal labor law. Paul was fired by Winco for a minor infraction on the job as a cashier. He sought representation by the Winco Store Employee Association, a union created by Winco, but the union failed to adequately defend his rights. "Everywhere I turned for help from my union, they wouldn't help me. In three years at Winco, I was a good employee. I needed my job to save money so that I can get my wife and children out of the refugee camp in Africa and bring them to live with me in the United States," said Paul. According to Paul's complaint, Winco created a sham company-run "worker association" that represented the company's interest more than the workers'. Winco even goes so far as to illegally indemnify the captive employee "association" for its failures to represent the workers. This conflict of interest is at both the heart of Mr. Paul's lawsuit against the company, and at the heart of what the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) prohibits. "The Winco-designed union failed to adequately represent Lino, and fails to adequately represent any Winco employees, because Winco designed it that way--to fail in that regard. By designing its contract grievance and arbitration procedures as it has, and by a variety of other mechanisms, Winco mocks the laws which grant to employees fundamental union rights of full and fair representation in their jobs. And, it mocks the laws which are meant to preserve for employees themselves an independent right to choose who their union representatives are going to be, rather than having their employer choose for them," said attorney Mike Schwarzkopf. Winco workers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California and Nevada, more than 5,000 employees -- are encouraged to contact the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) at 425-462-8314 to find out more about the lawsuit. "Thousands of other Winco workers, many of them former employees, may have suffered from lack of representation by the Winco sham-union. The UFCW is committed to fighting for justice for Lino Paul and for all Winco workers to have a real voice on the job with a real union: the UFCW," said Bob Morand, UFCW International Vice President and Regional Director. Lino Paul's lawsuit also charges the company with discriminating against him because of his race. Paul was terminated for a minor infraction that other employees have violated in the past without punishment. The 1.4 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) is America's neighborhood union representing workers in neighborhood grocery stores across the country, including Safeway and Albertson's. UFCW puts dinner on the table for America's families with members working in meatpacking and food processing. UFCW gives a voice to care with representation for nurses, medical technicians and nursing home workers. Other UFCW members work in the textile and garment industry, distillery and chemical manufacturing. |
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