http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_6234756Speak out on market strike
Would you cross a picket line? Have you changed stores since the last strike/lockout?
Article Launched: 06/26/2007 06:40:17 PM PDT
The last Southern California grocery workers strike and lockout, in 2003-2004, lasted 141 days, cost the market chains an estimated $1.5 billion, devastated the finances of strikers and resulted in shoppers switching to other stores in droves.
Worse yet, strikers lost ground in terms of less pay for new hires and a diminished health insurance plan. And perhaps worst of all, many shoppers were insulted as they tried to cross angry picket lines, some vowing never to return. In short, no one won that strike, except perhaps the shoppers who found better deals at friendlier markets. And, of course, the other markets and warehouse stores that welcomed their new customers warmly.
Now members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union have voted overwhelmingly to give their leaders the OK to call a strike. Some observers say this is just a ploy to show the market chains - Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons - that they're serious.
The issue they're most serious about is health insurance. Under terms of the contract that expired in March, only 7 percent of workers hired since the last strike are getting health insurance from the market chains, according to a report in the L.A. Times. Those "second-tier" workers would have to wait much less time to insure themselves and their dependents under a tentative agreement reached earlier in negotiations.
The other issue, pay, hasn't been decided upon yet. Workers have not received a pay raise since 2002. Earlier, union employees at Stater Brothers Markets, which was a big winner in the last strike, bargained for a pay raise of about $1.25 over three years. After 20 pay steps, which start at $9.20 an hour, a clerk could earn as much as $18.40.
Each week we invite readers to give us their opinions on a topic in the news. This week's questions:
If grocery workers strike again, would you honor or cross their picket lines? After the last strike was settled, in 2004, did you return to the market you patronized before the strike, or did you continue shopping elsewhere?
Here's how to respond:
By e-mail, with name and city:
question@presstelegram.com
Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday. We'll publish as many responses as we can accommodate, Saturday on the Speakout page.
Setting the record straight
An editorial Tuesday should have said that if no candidate received a majority in Tuesday's 37th Congressional District special election, the one with the most votes from each party would compete in a runoff Aug. 21.