The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth remembers marching with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 1960s to end racial desegregation in businesses.

"People used to accuse the Rev. King and me of trying to put business out of business," he recalled. "We want to put the fairness in business!"

Shuttlesworth brought that message to Hopkins, Minnesota, Thursday as he led a group of 50 Cincinnati, Ohio, workers in picketing the headquarters of Super Valu. The demonstration was in support of workers at a Super Valu subsidiary, Biggs, who want to join a union.

The Ohio contingent was joined by representatives of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, several unions and the Twin Cities Religion Labor Network.

Some 3,000 employees of the Biggs supermarket chain in Cincinnati would like the opportunity to decide whether to join the United Food & Commercial Workers union, but they are being intimidated by management, said Helen Reardon, a former Biggs employee.

"The employees have never been given a chance to make their own choice," Reardon said. "The support (for a union) is there. But they're scared to death. The fear is phenomenal."

Reardon and Shuttlesworth addressed the annual shareholders meeting of Super Valu on Wednesday about the situation in Cincinnati. Both said that Super Valu is a good employer in many parts of the country. "In most areas, Super Valu is labor-friendly and has even signed neutrality agreements during organizing," Reardon said.

The problem in Cincinnati, she said, is the management of Biggs, which has taken a virulently anti-union stance.

For more information

Visit the Biggs worker website: http://www.biggsworkers.com and the website of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1099 in Cincinnati: http://www.ufcw1099.org