Laid-Off Employees Plan National Boycott
Laid-off Price Pfister Co. workers announced plans Thursday to launch a nationwide boycott of the prominent faucet maker’s products and those of its parent company, Black & Decker.
The workers, renewing charges of inadequate severance pay, gathered at a dilapidated North Hollywood strip mall to map out boycott strategy and promote a protest march scheduled for Sunday at the Pacoima plant. They have formed a new group called Comite Fuerza Unida (“Committee of United Force”) to represent workers, instead of the Teamsters Union, with which many expressed dissatisfaction.
“We are going to put pressure on businesses,” said Comite organizer Adrian Gomez. “Once we saw we were not getting help from the Teamsters leaders, we saw that we had to defend ourselves.”
Gomez estimated that nearly 300 hourly employees have been laid off since Price Pfister officials announced a year ago that they were expanding their manufacturing operations in Mexico because the firm’s plants there were more modern than those in Pacoima.
A spokeswoman said Thursday that the company had no comment.
In addition to word-of-mouth publicity, workers have contacted Home Depot, a major retailer of Price Pfister and Black & Decker products, to advise them of their intentions and to try to persuade the home improvement giant to stop carrying the products.
City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents Pacoima, said he did not know the specifics of the boycott plan. He expressed sympathy for the workers, but cautioned that a poorly organized boycott could backfire or even violate laws.
“A boycott is an extreme measure,” he said. “My staff is in direct communication with workers so that we can work on things that will have a definite impact.”
Sunday’s protest is set for 10 a.m. at the plant, 13500 Paxton St. Participants will march to the Home Depot store on Foothill Boulevard in San Fernando before joining a celebration at San Fernando Recreation Park honoring the legacy of labor organizer Cesar Chavez.
