Opinion: In Defense of Trader Joe's

There is a lame commentary over at Monrovia Patch today ( http://goo.gl/EG8fa ) criticizing Monrovia's Trader Joe's. (I intend no criticism of Patch, by the way, as it is simply doing its job by providing a forum for the writer to express herself on a local topic.) Anyway, the writer lays into Trader Joe's because it "had not agreed to pay the penny extra a pound for tomatoes" to benefit tomato pickers in Florida.

 

So, right off, the writer ignores what even the workers' union itself stated in its own press release just a few days ago: that Trader Joe's has already agreed to pay an extra penny a pound for tomatoes. It just isn't going to sign the union's contract.

 

And frankly, I don't understand what the whole issue has to do with Trader Joe's at all.

 

Unless there is something I'm missing, Trader Joe's does not employ the tomato pickers, so why don't the workers ask their own employers for an extra penny a pound for tomatoes and then their employers can pass the cost along to Trader Joe's and other buyers? Why should Trader Joe's pay someone else's employees? What would you think if employees at the supermarket where you shop demanded that you pay extra money directly to their union? And what if you -- sweetheart that you are -- agreed, but then your word wasn't good enough for them so they demanded that you sign a contract to that effect?

Further, the writer of the opinion piece completely ignored Trader Joe's response ( http://goo.gl/M0OGG ). But if just half of what the company says is true, it is even more justified in rejecting a contract that it should not feel obliged to sign even under the fairest of circumstances.

Here is just one of the six points Trader Joe's makes:

"The draft agreement contains a requirement that Trader Joe’s somehow will pay the total premium whether or not the supply of Florida Tomatoes is sufficient to meet our demands or regardless of where we actually buy the tomatoes. This, of course, is a ridiculous requirement to which no serious business would agree."

So... if Trader Joe's buys tomatoes in Texas it has to pay workers in Florida!?

I beg your pardon?

 

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Assemblyman Seeks to Overturn Dream Act | Women Pilots Talk

~ Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, who represents part of Monrovia, is collecting voter signatures to try to overturn the Dream Act, which allows undocumented students to compete for state money. http://goo.gl/FMBJD

 

~ Hear the stories of women pilots (including Amelia Earhart) from members the San Gabriel Chapter of the Ninety-Nines, a women pilots organization. Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m. at the Library Community Room. Details: http://goo.gl/7Dwik

 

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovian Invents Quick Collapsing Goalposts

Monrovian solves problem of celebrating fans knocking down goalposts and getting hurt. http://goo.gl/mUX2t

 

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia - Football Goliath? | Top Band | Flame Broiler

~ Is Monrovia a football Goliath? http://goo.gl/O81iz

 

~ Monrovia High has the top band. http://goo.gl/2WAIZ

 

~ Monrovia Flame Broiler is now open. Near Sprouts. http://goo.gl/sa17T . And here's the menu: http://goo.gl/PW2VI

 

- Brad Haugaard

Pink Firefighters

Next week, the Monrovia Fire Department will be participating in the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by wearing pink t-shirts. The crews have been given permission to wear the special pink t-shirts while on duty to raise awareness of the disease and support cancer awareness. It was the idea of the Monrovia Firefighter's Association.  http://goo.gl/KAi9u

- Brad Haugaard

Halloween Costume Tips From Monrovia FD

~ When choosing a costume, stay away from billowing or long trailing fabric. If you are making your own costume, choose material that won't easily ignite if it comes into contact with heat or flame. If your child is wearing a mask, make sure the eye holes are large enough so they can see out.

 

~ Provide children with flashlights to carry for lighting or glow sticks as part of their costume.

 

~ Dried flowers, cornstalks and crepe paper are highly flammable. Keep these and other decorations well away from all open flames and heat sources, including light bulbs and heaters.

 

~ It is safest to use a flashlight or battery-operated candles in a jack-o-lantern. If you use a real candle, use extreme caution. Make sure children are watched at all times when candles are lit. When lighting candles inside jack-o-lanterns, use long fireplace-style matches or a utility lighter. Be sure to place lit pumpkins well away from anything that can burn and far enough out of the way of trick-or-treaters, doorsteps, walkways and yards.

 

~ Remember to keep exits clear of decorations, so nothing blocks escape routes.

 

~ Tell children to stay away from open flames. Be sure they know how to stop, drop and roll if their clothing catches fire. (Have them practice stopping immediately, dropping to the ground, covering their face with hands, and rolling over and over to put the flames out.)

 

~ Use flashlights as alternatives to candles or torch lights when decorating walkways and yards. They are much safer for trick-or-treaters whose costumes may brush against the lighting.

 

~ If your children are going to Halloween parties at others' homes, have them look for ways out of the home and plan how they would get out in an emergency.

 

Source: http://goo.gl/KAi9u

 

- Brad Haugaard (from Monrovia Fire Department)

Monrovia's STAAR Surgical Doing Well | Make a Difference Day

~ Monrovia's STAAR Surgical, which makes implantable eye lenses, reported third quarter revenue of $15.3 million, 16 percent more than the third quarter of 2010. http://goo.gl/oTGGR

 

~ Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa wants everybody to pitch in for Make a Difference Day this Saturday. He quotes Shakespeare, "How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in weary world." http://goo.gl/KAi9u

 

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia City Councilman Unhappy About Handicapped Spaces

Monrovia City Councilman Tom Adams is apparently unhappy with the city's Pavilions supermarket. This comment was posted on the Internet service "foursquare."

- Brad Haugaard

Enrollment Up at Monrovia Schools | No Redevelopment Money for Schools - Yet | Agenda

~ Enrollment for Monrovia Schools is unexpectedly up for October. The district was predicting a loss of 112 students but instead gained 122.

 

~ Not only is the transfer of Monrovia property to the Gold Line on hold pending the outcome of a lawsuit by cities against the state's new rules on redevelopment, but now the Monrovia School District reports that the same hold is preventing any redevelopment money from coming to the schools.  http://goo.gl/blZGR

 

~ Here is the agenda for the next School Board meeting, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at the district offices: http://goo.gl/khUOZ

 

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Chevy Dealer's Salesmen to be 'Prince Charmings'

The owner of Sierra Chevrolet is going to Disneyland to learn how to turn "car salesmen into personable Prince Charmings." http://goo.gl/XF8Ni

 

- Brad Haugaard

Lunch at Los Gueros

Lunch at Los Gueros, on Huntington just west of Magnolia. Got two chilis rellenos and a bowl of guacamole. Good, standard Mexican fare, but the highlight is the made-at-your-table guacamole (mostly eaten, as you can see). Don't miss that! Parking is on Huntington, which is maybe not so great except during off hours.
- Brad Haugaard

Protesters March to Trader Joe's Monrovia HQ

Several hundred people representing Florida tomato pickers marched along Huntington Drive to Trader Joe's Monrovia headquarters today to present their side in a dispute with the company.

The Florida labor group wants Trader Joe's to pay an extra penny a pound for tomatoes it picks, to benefit the pickers. Trader Joe's says it is already doing that but won't sign the agreement because "the agreement that Trader Joe’s has been asked to sign is overreaching, ambiguous and improper."

Details from both sides at these links:
~ Coalition of Immolakee Workers: http://goo.gl/rEisD
~ Trader Joe's response: http://goo.gl/M0OGG

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's STAAR Surgical - Making Money

Monrovia's STAAR Surgical expects revenue to be up 16 percent  for third quarter. http://goo.gl/23DnT

 

- Brad Haugaard

Bridge Work | Maranatha Over Monrovia? | Walmart Employees Get Sick

Working on the 210 Gold Line bridge abutments. 

~ Star-News Sports Writer picks Maranatha over Monrovia in football. http://goo.gl/XVIFL

~ Walmart employees get sick after handling money. http://goo.gl/I9tem

- Brad Haugaard

$7.3 Million Army Contract for Monrovia Company | Prolacta Collects $100k for Breast Cancer Research

~ Monrovia's AeroVironment gets a $7.3 million Army contract for support services for its Puma drone. http://goo.gl/bNjKS

 

~ Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia has collected more that $100,000 since October 2010 for breast cancer research. http://goo.gl/oZhNZ

 

- Brad Haugaard