Ten People Picket Sacks; Charge Race Discrimination

Ten people picketed the Saks Fifth Avenue University Shop at 73 Mt. Auburn St. yesterday to protest alleged racial discrimination by Gimbel Brothers, Inc.

Douglas Schoen '74, local coordinator for the New England Committee to Boycott Gimbels and Saks, presented store manager John W. Black with a letter charging company president Bruce A. Gimbel with refusal to consider the establishment of an "on-the-job training program for minority workers on his construction sites."

The charges of racial bias stem from Gimbel's alleged refusal to live up to an agreement made with Harlem Fight Back to institute an on-the-job training program for black and Puerto Rican workers at the construction site of a new Gimbels store located at 86th Street and Lexington Ave, in New York City.

The letter also charged Gimbel with refusal "to take steps to preserve the environment."

Black said that "part of the letter is incorrect." He declined to elaborate, however, saying that the specific issues of the boycott: are being handled by Gimbel Brothers' New York office.

Gimbels could not be reached for comment.