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A3 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Grocery worker union calls for boycott of Fred Meyer Contract talks set for this week By REBECCA ELLIS Oregon Public Broadcasting A local union represent- ing grocery workers from across Oregon and s outh- west Washington state has called for an immediate boy- cott of Fred Meyer stores and departments in the region. Union offi cials say the move comes after recent alleged harassment of unionized employees by higher-ups. United Food and Com- mercial Workers Local 555 is locked in deteriorating contract negotiations with some of the region’s big- gest supermarkets, includ- ing Fred Meyer, Albert- sons and Safeway. After the most recent negotiations deadlocked, the union can- cel ed nearly all its contract extensions with the Fred Meyer and QFC locations in its jurisdiction, as well as a handful of Safeways and Albertsons. The contract termination freed up the union to call for a boycott starting Sunday. Kelley McAllister, with UFCW Local 555, said the union was targeting solely Fred Meyer due to recent allegations that managers at the stores had called union- ized employees into their offi ces and berated them. “We got information from members in those meetings that they were being threat- ened and harassed and told that they were worthless, told that anyone off the street could do their job,” she said. McAllister said the alleged abuse constituted unfair labor practice and was reported to the National Labor Relations Board. In a statement, Fred Meyer said recent allega- tions that painted the com- pany as “an unfair or uncar- ing employer” were an “unfortunate misrepresen- tation of the reality for our great associates.” “The truth is that these actions don’t help the negoti- ation process at all and calls to boycott Fred Meyer hurt associates and their fami- lies, customers and commu- nities, and ironically helps competitors, many of which are non union,” the statement read. The union has released a list of the specifi c depart- ments within 57 Fred Meyer locations where its asking consumers to refrain from shopping. McAllister said the union has no plans yet to picket or to strike. The latter, she says “continues to be our last resort.” The next bargaining ses- sion will take place Thurs- day and Friday . Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian The Star Princess brought an estimated 3,000 people into Astoria on Monday. Cruise ship season peaks in Astoria Cruise ship season will peak in Astoria this week with nearly 9,000 estimated passengers coming on fi ve ships. The Star Princess stopped in Astoria on Monday carry- ing an estimated 3,000 passengers. The Seven Seas Mariner, Coral Princess and Oceania Regatta will arrive Thursday car- rying nearly 4,500 passengers. The Volendam, carrying an estimated 1,400 passengers, arrives Friday. The Star Princess is scheduled to stop in Astoria again this coming Monday. The Seven Seas Mariner and Oceania Regatta will dock at the Port of Astoria’s Pier 1 on Thursday, while the Coral Princess, carrying more than 3,000 passengers, will anchor in the Columbia River and shuttle passengers to the 17th Street Dock. Five more cruise ships are scheduled to fi nish the sea- son in October, including the Oosterdam Oct. 1, the Nor- wegian Jewel on Oct. 9 and the Grand Princess on Oct. 15 and on Oct. 22. — The Astorian Man rescued after grounding vessel LONG BEACH, Wash. — A U.S. Coast Guard aircrew hoisted a man off a boat in Willapa Bay north of Leadbetter Point State Park on Saturday afternoon after his vessel ran aground and began taking on water. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Sector Columbia River hoisted the man to safety and transported him to the sector base in Warrenton, where he was evaluated and released without injury, according to the Coast Guard. At 4:15 p.m., watchstanders at Sector Columbia River received a mayday call from the man reporting that his 30-foot vessel was aground and taking on water. The Coast Guard aircrew launched and arrived on scene at 5:19 p.m. and conducted the hoist. The Coast Guard reminds mariners to have recent updated charts and properly functioning navigation equip- ment to ensure they are aware of known shallow areas, as well as being aware of tide conditions. — Chinook Observer OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER US hop supply, demand balanced By DAN WHEAT Capital Press YAKIMA, Wash. — A 2% increase in inventory of U.S. hops since last Septem- ber shows continued reason- able balance between supply and demand despite a con- tinuing but slowing acreage increase in recent years, a leading producer says. Crop production in 2018 increased just 1% over 2017, “so a 2% increase in hop stocks 12 months later is rel- atively in line with the pro- duction increase,” says Pete Mahony, vice president of supply chain and purchas- ing for John I. Haas Inc. in Yakima. Haas is a leader in production, processing and research and development of hops. Jaki Brophy, spokes- woman for Hop Growers of America and the Washington Hop Commission , agreed there is stability. “Despite the fact that acreage went up again, pro- duction will be essentially level with last year,” Brophy said. “It will actually be a lit- tle less thanks to a lot of the new acreage coming from a new propagation tech- nique that wasn’t ideal for Dan Wheat/Capital Press The hop harvest at Wenas Hop Co., in Selah, Wash., last year. the spring weather we had this year. Returning acre- age looked, overall, above average.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agri- cultural Statistics Service released its hop stock report on Sept. 18 showing hop inventory by growers, deal- ers and brewers at 115 mil- lion pounds, up 2% from the 113 million-pound inventory a year earlier. Stocks held at dealer and grower locations totaled 78 million pounds and brewers held 37 million pounds. The previous two Septem- ber hop stock reports showed annual increases of about 15%, which was expected as production in those years increased at nearly the same Get to The Point. Expert Service. Guaranteed. rate, Mahony said. In June, USDA estimated 57,339 acres of hops for 2019, up 4% from the record high of 55,035 in 2018. Of that, 72% is in Washington state, 15% in Idaho and 13% in Oregon. For many years, hop growth has been fueled by the rapid increase of craft breweries, but their rate of growth is now slowing. “While we’ve certainly seen some slowdown in the U.S. craft industry from the double-digit growth rates of only a few years ago, the industry still continues to grow although at a more moderate and hopefully sus- tainable rate,” Mahony said. A positive sign is strong growth in the long tail of craft, which are the smaller, more local craft brewers, he said. Long tail growth has pushed the total U.S. brew- ery count beyond 7,000, he said. Trust your vehicle safety to the professionals at DEL’S O.K. TIRE WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Get the inside scoop on state government and politics! Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 k c a B g Givin 2019-2020 g a difference in k a m to e id u g a ty in Clatsop Coun We are working on the 5th annual edition of Giving Back To Submit information about your non-profit Fill out a form at this link: https://tinyurl.com/y5no5nlw or email: Lauren McLean at: lmclean@dailyastorian.com to receive a form via mail/email. Deadline for submissions: October 4th, 2019 Look for 2019-2020 Giving Back in the October 29th edition of The Astorian BUY 3 Get 1 Free! Now through 10/31/19 Giving Back provides our community nonprofits and corporations that support them, a platform for informing the public about their services and opportunities to donate or volunteer. Same local owners putting you first! Giving Back is a resource for companies and individuals to use in researching information to assist them in their charitable giving plans. This year we’re offering expanded listings to each nonprofit detailing their mission statements, goals, service area, superstar volunteers, events and giving/ volunteering opportunities. your #1 Source for tires 35359 Hwy 101 Business Astoria, OR 503-325-2861 Store hours: Mon-Fri, 8-6; Sat. 8-4 • Closed Sunday