Not a single Fresh & Easy market has opened in Southern California, but British owner Tesco is already under pressure from community groups to live up to promises to pay decent wages, provide affordable health benefits and reduce greenhouse gases.
Tesco, the world's third-largest retailer, is spending $2 billion to build hundreds of small grocery stores in Southern California and the Southwest. In launching its U.S. business, the company has boasted of green and worker-friendly practices. But internationally, Tesco has raised the hackles of labor, environmental and animal welfare groups for various policies around the world.
A coalition of 25 community organizations in Southern California is set to call on Tesco today to sign a "community benefits agreement" that would bind the British retailer to its previous promises to pay its Southern California workers well above the minimum wage, offer health benefits and to be environmentally responsible when it launches its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain of small grocery stores this fall.
In a letter to Tim Mason, chief executive of Tesco's U.S. operations, the Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores said it was concerned about "Tesco's record for living up to its commitments."
It proposed negotiating a legally binding agreement that puts the retailer's "promises into writing."
Such a contract would commit Fresh & Easy to pay livable wages, provide access to affordable healthcare, hire people who live near the stores and guarantee its workers the right to join unions without company hindrance, said Greg Good, spokesman for Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, one of the organizers of the coalition.
Additionally, the coalition wants Fresh & Easy to open more stores in underserved communities, operate green buildings and reduce the traffic and pollution that its large distribution network will create.
Fresh & Easy executives did not return calls seeking comment on the proposal. But previously, Mason said that entry-level positions at Fresh & Easy would start at $10 an hour in California and include a quarterly bonus of as much as 10%. All of the jobs will be at least 20 hours a week.
Moreover, Mason said the stores were being designed to use less electricity. Windows will be placed to provide more natural light. The airflow on the refrigeration units is being modified to reduce power consumption by 10%. Outside signage and freezer lighting will rely on energy-efficient bulbs. Shipping and packing materials will be either recycled or reused. And deliveries will be timed not to interfere with periods of heavy local traffic.
