The San Francisco Planning Department will hold a hearing Thursday at noon to consider the proposal to open a Fresh & Easy store at the former site of Delano’s Market, on South Van Ness Ave between 23rd and 24th streets.
“We are endorsing it,” said Phil Lesser, the government and media relations vice president for the Mission Merchants Association. “I feel that having that employers within the neighborhood increases the opportunity of jobs within the neighborhood. We saw more pluses than minuses.”
Jim Salinas Sr., president of the San Francisco Latino Democratic Club, is not as confident of Fresh & Easy’s employment practices.
“They take great pride in being non-union,” said Salinas. “If they’re not willing to sign a union agreement with the union clerks, they should at least pay them like they were in a union.
“Now they’re asking me to appear before the Planning Commission to move this thing forward, and I’m feeling really uneasy about that. I don’t feel easy with it.”
The proposed property has been occupied by grocery stores since 1959, and has been vacant since Delano’s vacated in late 2010. The existing building will be divided into two separate retail spaces, providing an additional available retail space, according to the proposal.
The proposal also claimed the project will create about 20 permanent jobs and more than 300 construction jobs at the project site. The company has set a goal of hiring store employees from within the surrounding neighborhood.
They ‘say’ they want to hire local, but won’t put anything on paper. With 20 full time employees means lots of part time to pay no benefits….nothing. Go somewhere else.