Two Real Cows & Actor in Scrooge Costume Back Holiday Boycott of Alta Dena Dairy

 

Joining dairy workers outside a supermarket protesting costly health care, on-the-job abuses

 

December 20, 2006 (Burbank, CA) — Joined by two real dairy cows and an actor dressed as the “Alta Dena Scrooge” outside a Pavilions store in Burbank Wednesday, workers from Alta Dena Dairies will accompany employees from unionized dairies protesting costly health care and abusive treatment. Meanwhile, activists will handbill outside the store, as they have at hundreds of other supermarkets around the region, urging shoppers not to purchase Alta Dena Dairy products.

 

Alta Dena spent decades building a strong brand name as a premiere local, family-owned firm. But a few years ago, Alta Dena was purchased by Dean Foods, a Texas-based Fortune 500 corporation, which radically changed company practices. Alta Dena workers under Dean Foods must pay more and more out of pocket for health care—nearly $4,000 a year. Managers arbitrarily punish and even fire employees who speak up.

 

“What these Alta Dena workers and their families want for the holidays is very simple,” explains Barbara Maynard, director of the Food and Drug Council, Inc., a coalition of unions representing workers in the food and drug industries. “They want what every hard working family in Southern California should have: affordable health insurance, the promise of a secure retirement, and the right to defend themselves against arbitrary punishment and terminations.”

 

The event, sponsored by the Food and Drug Council, spotlights a boycott of products from Alta Dena Certified Dairy Inc. Initial efforts are focusing on hand billing outside Vons and Pavilions stores throughout Southern California. The Food and Drug Council is considering hand billing at other supermarkets as well as at cafes and national chains that serve Alta Dena goods.

 

Who:

Two live dairy cows, an actor in a Scrooge costume, and labor activists led by a union coalition representing workers in the food and drug industries.

 

What:

Demonstrating why Alta Dena cows are so sad: Because the company denies its employees better pay and benefits despite the dairy’s higher prices and corporate profits.

 

When:            

Wednesday, December 20, 2006; 3:30 p.m.

 

Where:           

Pavilions, 1110 W. Alameda St., Burbank, CA   91506