Hometown heroes: Six stewards stand up to Walmart

Six UFCW Local 135 stewards spoke out in favor of regulating “big-box” stores during the June 23 meeting of the San Diego City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee.

After many years of debate, the City Council is again taking up the issue of controlling the growth of Walmart Supercenters and similar giant stores that endanger union jobs in the retail industry.

For their service, the six stewards — Ricardo Corona, Phil Delgado, Lance Mah, Shirley Mansfield, Alex Stewart and Jose Valdez — were presented the Stewards in Solidarity Award at the UFCW Local 135 annual Steward Conference on Aug. 26 (see story page 8).

“On the night before the committee meeting, we met at Local 135 to prepare for it,” Shirley Mansfield of Vons 2826 recalled. Assisting in the preparations were Local 135 President Mickey Kasparian and Organizing Director German Ramirez.

“Mickey and German briefed us on some key issues about the big-box legislation,” Steward Alex Stewart of Vons 2093 said.

*Years of outrage*

The next day, the meeting schedule went “out the window,” Stewart said.  “The proposed bridge over Rose Canyon and through the parkland nearby took up most of the time, so we had to wait to speak.”

“At first, they said we wouldn’t get to speak because they were running out of time, but they gave us each one minute,” said Lance Mah of Vons 2134.

For most of the stewards, one minute wasn’t enough time to voice their outrage.  "Walmart had some polished attorneys and hand-picked employees at the meeting, but they didn’t seem very well-prepared,” Mah said.  “I was a nervous wreck until I heard the garbage the pro-Walmart speakers were spouting,”  Mansfield said.  “They spoke about how great they treat their employees, how they all have healthcare, and how they double a city’s tax revenue, which I still haven’t figured out since Walmart systematically crushes its competition in cities.”

*Powerful message*

“I got so outraged that I just belted it all out,” Mansfield said, echoing the sentiments of her fellow stewards.

“I told them about how a Walmart is a quarter-mile away from our store and it’s simply killing our shopping center,” Mansfield said.

“My Vons has lost thousands of dollars every week in sales since the Walmart was converted into a Supercenter.

“We’ve lost both full-time and part-time jobs. The nail salon and optometrist near us are struggling just to keep their heads above water and more and more storefronts are going blank because people just can’t compete.
“Those are jobs and careers down the drain because of Walmart undercutting everyone.”

“I told the City Council how Walmart works methodically to put competition out of business,” Mah said. “And how they were recently fined $26 million by the State of California for dumping chemicals like paint, thinner and insecticide down the drain instead of disposing of it properly. They also encourage other businesses to ship their labor overseas to match their inventory prices.”

“All I needed was about 40 seconds,” Stewart said. “I talked about how I didn’t want to live in an area where there’s only one store and I don’t have the variety of choice afforded by local competitors.

“When a Supercenter comes in, if Walmart doesn’t stock it, then I guess I can’t buy it, because everybody else is gone.”

The stewards said they felt that their arguments were better received than the Walmart speakers’ message.  Maybe it’s because we were better-prepared, but mostly it was because we had 100-150 supporters from the UFCW in the council meeting with us,” Stewart said.  “We weren’t allowed to cheer or boo, just raise our hands for our chance to speak if we disagree or agree with someone strongly,” Mah said. “When we were speaking, a lot of UFCW hands were waving in our support.”

“We have to keep non-union competition out of our town, because if we don’t, with negotiations coming up, employers will use it as an excuse for takebacks,” Mansfield said.  “Union members should volunteer more to help out their union,” Mah said. “It’s definitely worthwhile.”

“We are proof that, if we stick together, we can do great things,” Stewart said.