About 30 Jobs with Justice activists, including a half dozen or more Azteca Foods workers, blanketed two large supermarkets on Chicago’s northside this Saturday to distribute informational leaflets supporting the workers in their struggle to win a fair union contract. The workers have been organized by United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers (UE) Local 1159. The action was part of a nationally coordinated, 10-city campaign to pressure Azteca Foods owner Arthur Velasquez to negotiate a fair contract with the union.

Azteca Foods is a large tortilla factory on the south side of Chicago with estimated revenues of over $30 million per year. Their tortillas and chips are sold in large grocery chains across the country. Its workers won an NLRB election to form a union with UE last April, and have been in contract negotiations with the company since May 14.

Azteca workers want improved wages, benefits, and working conditions (which are reported as very hot, fast-paced, and dangerous), a fair pension, union security, and dignity on the job.

The company has instead come to the table with a set of takeaway proposals that would cut wages and benefits, gut seniority rights, and expand the use of temporary workers. The workers report that company foremen have become increasingly belligerent and abusive to the workers, the majority of whom are Mexican immigrants.

Dominick’s and Jewel Food Stores, the two largest supermarket chains in the Chicago metropolitan area, were the focus of the UE and JwJ action. Shoppers at two stores on north Western Avenue were handed leaflets pointing out how profitable Azteca Foods has been, and how badly it has treated its workers. Delegations went into the stores to meet with the managers to raise the same issues. The response by shoppers and passers-by to the leaflets was very supportive.

The union and Jobs with Justice have appealed to the public to contact Azteca Foods owner Arthur Velasquez to tell him to stop stalling and to negotiate a fair contract. They urge calling Valasquez at 708-563-6600 or sending him a message through Azteca’s web site, www.aztecafoods.com.