ONTARIO, Calif., Aug. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Teamster warehouse workers and drivers who work at Vistar
Foodservice's distribution facility have been on strike since last
week after more than a year of unsuccessful negotiations with the
company. The 85 warehouse workers and drivers are members of
Teamsters Local 630 in Los Angeles
and are calling attention to ongoing pay discrimination against
women and other unfair labor practices at Vistar, a division of
Performance Food Group (NYSE: PFGC).
"We are tired of being disrespected just because we are women,
so we are standing up for a living wage because this is about our
families, our kids," said Rebecca
Hernandez, a longtime Vistar/PFG employee and single mother
who is currently on strike. "We've given so much to this company so
they could become millionaires. Some of us have been working for
the company for as long as 15 years and Vistar refuses to provide
equal pay for equal work."
Local 630 is seeking an agreement similar to the contract it
negotiated for its members at Roma Foods, another PFG company.
Vistar/PFG services food vendors at movie theatres, state prisons,
hospitals and other facilities throughout the state.
"Vistar Performance Food Group is a highly profitable company
that dominates the industry in this region," said Lou Villalvazo, Secretary-Treasurer of Local
630. "They can easily afford raises for these workers, especially
the women whose labor is openly devalued by the company. Vistar/PFG
is acting like it's the 1950s."
The company argues that the women working in the warehouse
handle lighter loads and therefore can be paid less than their male
co-workers. This is the second Unfair Labor Practice strike the
predominately Latino immigrant workforce has undertaken this year.
The workers went on a three-day strike in June over the same
issues.
The current strike began August 16
and workers have maintained picket lines in shifts, many walking
the strike like with their children at their side.
"These brave workers are walking the picket line because it's
the only way to stand up for their families. They are standing up
against Vistar's greed, its discrimination against women and its
exploitation of workers. Teamsters will not allow Vistar to keep
working standards low in this industry. This is about winning a
fair and equal contract with respect and dignity," Villalvazo
said.
Vistar/PFG workers joined Local 630 in 2015. In recent months
Local 630 and its members have reached out to movie-goers at major
Vistar/PFG customers including AMC and Regal Cinemas to put a
spotlight on the company's pay discrimination against women.
Contact:
Oscar
Ruiz, (213) 590-7119
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SOURCE Teamsters Local 630