Soon-to-be fired Krug-Mondavi workers
call for nationwide boycott of wine labels
After failing to deter America’s 15th largest winery from firing its veteran Napa Valley vineyard work force, workers at Charles Krug Winery—operated for three generations by the Peter Mondavi family–will gather Thursday with hundreds of supporters on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to declare a nationwide boycott of the company’s wines. The boycotted labels are Charles Krug and C.K. Mondavi.
Joining the workers who are set to be fired on July 1 will be United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez, labor, community and political leaders as well as union, religious and immigration reform activists. Krug-Mondavi workers will unveil their initial boycott plans that include:
• A long-term concerted Internet campaign that rallied hundreds of thousands of Americans to support the UFW’s drive against Gallo, resulting in a new contract last year.
• Endorsement of the boycott by the Change to Win labor federation of which the UFW is part, covering unions representing more than 1 million workers in California alone. Additional endorsements by major cities, labor and political organizations will follow.
• Direct appeals to the country’s largest wine distributors, retailers and supermarkets to honor the boycott.
• Regular vigils by workers and supporters at the height of the summer tourist season outside the Krug-Mondavi winery tasting room on Hwy. 29 near St. Helena in the heart of the fabled Napa Valley.
• Marches by hundreds of workers and supporters promoting the boycott, on June 18 in St. Helena and June 25 in San Francisco.
• Targeting wine tasting and promotional events featuring Krug-Mondavi wines.
Among Krug-Mondavi vineyard workers being fired are a number with decades of service with the winery that has sternly fought union representation since 1975.
Who: Hundreds of Krug-Mondavi vineyard workers and supporters, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez.
What: Declaring a nationwide boycott of Charles Krug- and C.K. Mondavi-label wines.
When: 12 noon, Thursday, June 15, 2006.
Where: Steps of City Hall on Polk St. in San Francisco.
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For more on the Krug-Mondavi boycott visit www.ufw.org/krugmondavi
Statement by Arturo Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America
Declaring boycott of Krug-Mondavi wines
June 15, 2006—San Francisco, Calif.
Statement by Arturo Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America
Declaring boycott of Krug-Mondavi wines
June 15, 2006—San Francisco, Calif.
On its website, charleskrug.com, Krug-Mondavi winery boasts about “the history and tradition that our family is proud to uphold.”
Today we ask supporters across America whether the Mondavi family history and tradition extend to their farm workers. A number of their workers have decades of loyal service with the winery even though the company has sternly fought their right to be represented by the United Farm Workers since 1975.
Krug-Mondavi workers voted for the UFW in 1975. It was one of first union elections under California’s farm labor law. After their UFW contract expired at the end of last year, the Mondavis announced all the workers are being fired on July 1st and vineyard operations are being turned over to a land manager who will report directly to winery management—all supposedly as a cost-savings measure.
It is hard to believe the company when it pleads poverty while Krug-Mondavi is in the midst of a 21.6 million dollar capital improvement drive on its 850 acres of the most prime vineyards in the fabled Napa Valley.
How can the Mondavis spend more than 21 million dollars on a capital improvement program and fire all their vineyard workers, many of them with years of service, as a cost saving measure? Do history, tradition and loyalty mean nothing to this family?
Cesar Chavez once asked, “What is the worth of a farm worker?”
Since the Mondavis can’t answer that question, today we are posing it to the American people. Krug-Mondavi workers are asking them to support a boycott of the Charles Krug and C.K. Mondavi wine labels.
The initial boycott plans Krug-Mondavi workers announce today include:
• A concerted, sustained Internet campaign that proved so effective in last year’s successful effort to win a new contract with Gallo of Sonoma. Hundreds of thousands of Americans responded to the Gallo appeal.
• Support of the boycott from the local and national labor movements, including the first national boycott endorsement from the Change to Win labor federation, with additional endorsements by major cities, community and political organizations to follow.
• Direct appeals to the country’s largest wine distributors, wine retailers and supermarkets to honor the boycott.
• Regular vigils by workers and supporters at the height of the summer tourist season staged outside the Krug-Mondavi tasting room on Hwy. 29, near St. Helena in the heart of the Napa Valley.
• Marches by hundreds of farm workers and supporters promoting the boycott, on June 18 in St. Helena and June 25 in San Francisco.
• Targeting wine tasting and promotional events featuring Krug-Mondavi wines.
The Mondavis think they can fire their longtime vineyard workers because the workers are immigrants and because many of them are older. Through the new boycott of Charles Krug and C.K. Mondavi wines, American consumers can send the Mondavis a clear message: No!
Also, please keep up with the campaign by going to ufw.org/krugmondavi.
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