Blue Diamond workers, along with ILWU members, staff and friends, took advantage of heavy Valentine’s Day traffic to leaflet at See’s outlets in Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Pasadena and Honolulu. Because See’s uses Blue Diamond almonds in its chocolates, they asked the candy maker to "be a sweetie," use its influence as a big customer and ask Blue Diamond to change its anti-union ways.

Workers at Blue Diamond’s Sacramento plant have been organizing since September 2004 to join warehouse Local 17. The company mounted an aggressive anti-union campaign that included firing four union supporters and threatening that people would lose their pensions and the plant would close. The NLRB issued complaints on 28 separate violations of labor law and held a four-day hearing in December. A ruling could come at any time.

"The way jobs and everything are going in this country, organizing is our last line of defense against serfdom," said Local 19 casual Bob Simmons, one of the Seattle leafletters.

American Rights At Work launched its second e-mail alert for the Blue Diamond workers Feb. 14. The first alert, part of last year’s "Halloween Howl for Justice," netted a total of 11,000 messages to Blue Diamond. This newer alert has prompted 7,500 e-mails so far, including many personalized notes. "I run a company and feel the competitive pressures every day," said one.

"But I also believe that we must individually and professionally stand for something as big as the bottom line: that’s people. If people feel the need to unionize, you and I should let them."

—MER