Transit, grocery and law enforcement labour unrest roils Southern Californ

[smallprint]

http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.asp?id=B80F6116-500F-48DE-8C81-E039E5F925E5

ALEX VEIGA
Canadian Press
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Train and bus mechanics for the third- largest mass-transit system in the United States walked off the job Tuesday, stranding hundreds of thousands of Southern California commuters already burdened by a supermarket strike and sporadic sickouts by sheriff's deputies.

snip

On Tuesday, 70,000 Southern California grocery clerks from three chains began their third day on the picket lines with no sign of a new contract. Grocery clerks in four other states - Missouri, West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky - also are on strike.

And Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies continued to call in sick, as they have in spurts over the past three weeks, in a protest over stalled labour talks. A court hearing was set for Tuesday afternoon on a request from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for a court order barring union leadership from encouraging deputies to call in sick.

snip

It was the second time in three years that a strike halted the county's transit system. A 2000 walkout shut down the MTA's bus, subway and commuter train service for 32 days.

end article

-- All of the strikes are centered on health care benefits -- no one can afford to pay the absurd premiums out of pocket. This issue is not going to go away. I predict long strikes and serious backlash, both from management and from people losing their jobs because they can't get to work.

And the Governator is coming...

[jiacinto]

1. Would Arnold send the police

nt

[Journeyman]

3. Wouldn't be able to. . .

they're out with the "blue flu."

[htuttle]

4. Sounds like the police are starting to strike too

And Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies continued to call in sick, as they have in spurts over the past three weeks, in a protest over stalled labour talks. A court hearing was set for Tuesday afternoon on a request from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for a court order barring union leadership from encouraging deputies to call in sick.

He could send in the National Guard, but they are in Iraq.

[NashVegas]

8. would Arnold Bust the Unions

better question.

[Bandit]

27. Isn't ah-nold in a Union?

Isn't there some guilders union or something?

[The Zanti Regent]

16. Arnold CAN call the National Guard in to break these strikes

And he will...

[leesa]

19. Aren't they in Iraq?

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Well well, well

labor strikes agin adn this is what the bush
mis administration wants to destroy, LABOR

[ikojo]

5. Grocery workers in St Louis, MO are also

on strike. The corporate media is doing all they can to paint those on strike in the worse possible light. They have even said that the strike is affecting food pantries in the area (hey how about the Bush economy? How's THAT affecting food pantries?)

I just went to Whole Foods today and if these crowds on a TUESDAY are an indication of what St Louis feels about the strike then the workers still have a lot of support.

The primary concern here in St Louis is health insurance as well.

Edit: On the 5PM news they reported that some of the workers are suing the union UFCW Local 655 and requesting a recount of the strike vote that was taken last Tuesday (10/7). The strikers contend that the union did not adequately represent them.

I think they are getting scared. This is the first time St Louis grocery store workers have gone on strike. The original plan was to strike only one store but the three chains involved locked out the union workers. It is those locked out workers who want to return to work. The owners of the stores have said that they will now talk to anyone who wants to return to work. Can anyone say UNION BUSTING?

[RandomKoolzip]

6. I am so f'in' glad this is happening.

Labor has finally started to get up and fight the Bush Machine. Thank GOD. As a food service industry worker, I've been talking to fellow cooks about striking, but nobody seems receptive. I wonder if this might change their minds.....

[peterh]

7. I think there’s concern from all levels of a company’s hierarchy….

Even here in ultra-conservative Orange County, I’m seeing a lot of people honking in support of the strikers. Whether one is unionized or not, the health issue resonates. I’m seeing it up and down the ladder. And one needn’t look any further than Wal Mart as the trendsetter.


<http://slate.msn.com/id/2089532/>

The Wall Street Journal led its Sept. 30 issue with a well-reported article about how the retailing giant controls health-care costs. "Wal-Mart makes new hourly workers wait six months to sign up for its benefits plan and doesn't cover retirees at all." It won't pay for flu shots, child vaccinations, or contraception, which many other firms cover. By keeping deductibles high, Wal-Mart manages to spend 30 percent less per employee on health care than its competitors. And because so many companies try to benchmark their costs to Wal-Mart, its penny-pinching ways could lead to a spiral of declining benefits for all retail workers.

At Wal-Mart, the customer is king, everyone else be damned: competitors, employees, and the domestic manufacturing base. Everything Wal-Mart does—particularly its low prices—is done in the name of slavish devotion to consumer demand. And every day, millions of Americans ratify Wal-Mart's strategy by shopping there. Stores don't kill economies, consumers do.

[belab13]

9. Ahnuld's probably already working on that press release detailing how

his failed tenure as gov was the fault of the legislature.

[belab13]

10. I'm a Californian

but unless Diebold pulled a fast one on the electorate, the idiots who voted for arnold should get their just desserts.

[Barrett808]

14. Speaking of Diebold

Analysis of California recall data confirms voting system doubts
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/22.94.html#subj1
(serious original analysis from Rebecca Mercuri)

Something's fishy with Diebold in California
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/22.95.html#subj7
(excerpt about more problems with the recall numbers, with some original
analysis by another RISKS contributor)

Data transfer Excel-COBOL loses voter data
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/22.95.html#subj7
(technical ineptitude in Greenville, Mississippi is serious even when no
ill will is involved)

[0007]

11. Is this just a sample of what's to come?

If junior stays in office, I'd bet on it!

Things are just swell in Iraq, 'eh?

[damnraddem]

12. Hey, look, Arnold's not even sworn in yet ...

and already he has California in a real mess. ;-)

[smallprint]

13. Update: Unions sue management over lockout

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20031014-1329-strike.html

LOS ANGELES –

DAN TREVAN / Union-Tribune

Seven local chapters of the union representing striking supermarket workers today sued Albertsons and Ralphs for locking out employees in response to the job action against Vons.

The local chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union claim the lockout is a violation of California's Mass Layoff Notification Law.

The law, passed in 2002, requires that every employee individually be given 60 days' notice prior to any mass layoff.

snip

The unions estimate that the amount owed their union members locked out by the two employers exceeds $600 million.

end

Woohooo!! Sue their asses!!

[FauxNewsBlues]

18. LA talk radio sucks

They are so pro management it ain't funny. I am curious if the clear channel station, whose talk jocks are all pro management, will ever to decide to let their listeners know that the three major corporations who run the supermarkets contribute millions of dollars to clear channel in ad time.

[neomonkey]

22. You got it

They make me sick, and there is very little choice out there. Sometimes I listen to that prick and his prick crew, Bill Handel on KFI in the morning and just marvel at their delusional right-wing ranting.

[inthecorneroverhere]

15. Don't shop at....

Albertson's, Kroger, or Ralphs.....

That last one is making me laugh, because Ralph's is not a name I'd choose for a supermarket....or anywhere else that concerned food. :silly:

Buy your grub at places like farmers' markets, Trader Joes, whole foods places, or independent (sometimes foreign) markets.

[The Zanti Regent]

17. But many can't get there since the busses are on strike too!

The bus mechanics are saying they will stay out past the end of the year if they have to...

[no_arbusto]

20. Kroger/Ralphs has to be a big GOP supporter

Kroger/Ralph's (same company) inundate their customers with frequent "2 minutes hate" Faux News broadcasts regularly. Seriously, this summer I lived in CA and the only option was to shop at Ralph's. When the classical music wasn't playing, the intercom would switch to a "Fox News Update" fairly often. It was really strange. Kroger is doing the same thing in West Virginia. They also have alot of rightwing books displayed prominently in their stores along with the usual faux-patriot crap.

[FauxNewsBlues]

21. Kroger PAC giving

9 republicans, 1 democrat. Evan Bayh got money from them, in addition to 2 GOP senators. All 6 house members they gave to were republican, and they have already donated the $1,000 limit to George Bush's re-election campaign.

Edit to add, that in 2,000 it was even worse. They gave to 15 house republicans, 0 democrats. Kicked in money to shrub, gave money to the dem and republican senate candidate in Michigan, then to 4 other GOP senators. Kroger is obnoxiously GOP. Most industry PACS try to spread the money around a little, even if they tilt one way. They are so tilted GOP that they are falling over.

[Snow]

25. Huh! Odd....

I shop at two Ralphs' (not now because of the strike), one in Altadena in a mixed race & class neighborhood - lotta african-americans - and one in LaCanada that I guess is patronized by JPL physicists and the like. Neither one played classical music or weird Faux news updates. Wonder if they're being sensitive to their demographic or if the store managers are simply being sensible.

[moto]

23. Trader Joes IS partially albertsons...

In 1979 Trader Joe's was sold to the Albrecht family. The two brothers from Germany, Theodore and Carl, also own and operate Aldi's. Aldi is a 4500 discount food chain in Europe and parts of the central Unites States. It also holds about an

----> 11% stake in Albertson's <----

, a national supermarket chain. The Albrecht brothers are often listed as one of the wealthiest families in the world. They were the 11th richest in 1997 Forbes "Richest People" list with $11.5 billion.

11.5 billion, and they force their workers to strike?

[newyawker99]

24. Hi moto!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[newyawker99]

29. Hi moto!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[realFedUp]

26. I don't know anyone who's roiling yet...

We stocked up a bit, avoiding the said markets, using
our cars. No roiling yet.

[morebunk]

28. Just what the Republicans want: problems in the "blue counties"

That's what they get for voting against Arnold.