'Pennies for health care'
Labor council head arrested in solidarity action
By Steven Ceci
Baltimore
Friday, Feb. 13, turned out to be a bad luck
day for the management of Safeway in Baltimore. Hundreds of
trade union and community activists set up an informational
picket line on Harford Road in front of a local branch of the
huge grocery chain. They were there in support of striking West
Coast grocery workers, and the focus of their solidarity was
health care.
Workers from practically every union in the area attended,
including the Auto Workers, Communications Workers, Operating
Engineers--who opened their offices and parking lot to
participants--Sheet Metal Workers, Machinists, AFSCME, Service
Employees, Postal Workers, Hotel & Restaurant Employees,
Masters, Mates & Pilots, GUILD and the Steel Workers. The
All Peoples Congress, a local community group, helped organize
and mobilize its members, along with the NAACP and the AFL-CIO
Religious Committee.
Scores of these unionists and their supporters went into the
store with "pennies for health care" in their pockets. One
participant stated, "We want Safeway to know that if workers
are forced to pay outrageous prices for health care, workers
may not even have pennies to buy groceries."
"Pennies for health care" shoppers grabbed carts and dashed
through the store eager to buy. The strike supporters lined up
at the two open cash registers to pay for their items with the
pennies they had brought. The store manager and security guards
were angered and panicked. They chased photographers from the
store, threatening to call the police, and tried to take the
film out of one camera.
Ernie Grecco, president of the Central Labor Council of
Balti more, went to the second cash register and pulled out
pennies to pay for the Valentine's Day gift he had picked out
for his wife.
At the same time, Sharon Ceci, a community organizer and
health care advocate with the All Peoples Congress, poured out
hundreds of pennies on the cashier conveyor belt at the first
register. She had picked out two boxes of cookies for picketers
outside.
Both began to count out their pennies to make sure they paid
Safeway properly. This was a very slow process for both
shoppers. Guards then began to take pictures of both activists
while taunting them. Union shoppers who had lined up behind
them began to explain to customers what was taking place and
why.
Suddenly police arrived and arrested Ernie Grecco.
Management yelled to police to "get him." Ceci was then evicted
from the store. Her pennies were packed up and returned as
management put signs over the registers stating "No
pennies."
Grecco was taken to Central Booking and charged with
criminal trespassing. He was held until 6 a.m. Union and
community activists concerned about his health kept watch all
night, calling union attorneys and visiting the jail.
Later, protesters learned that Grecco had been transported
to Mercy Hospital for health problems before being held in
lock-up. He pointed out to picketers the next day that he had
asked to go to a unionized hospital, but the police had
refused.
Safeway closed for three hours
Frightened by the growing picket line outside and disturbed
by what had happened inside, Safeway management decided to
close the store for three hours. Police blocked streets and no
one came in or out of the Safeway parking lot.
Protesters cheered and declared victory when they heard that
Safeway had closed on a busy Friday night.
When Grecco was being handcuffed and led to a police wagon,
a worker ran from the store with a special card for him. It
said, "Thank you for standing up for me--I truly appreciate
what you're doing." Workers are barred by their collective
bargaining agreement from being on the picket line.
"Workers don't have a voice right now. We are the workers'
voice, that is why we are here," said G.I. Johnson, president
of the Baltimore NAACP.
A resident of the surrounding community who usually shops at
Safeway came up to the picket line and told participants she
was going to start a neighborhood petition. Workers commuting
from work honked and waved support, clearly energized by the
spirited picket line.
This action was significant because it comes at a time when
Safeway is now bargaining with UFCW locals in Southern
California. The AFL-CIO nationally has declared this strike to
be of top importance and is focusing resources in different
cities on deepening the boycott of Safeway. There is growing
understanding in the community that the issue of healthcare
affects everyone.
In Maryland and in Washington, D.C., Safeway's contracts
with grocery workers in UFCW locals 27 and 400 expire at the
end of March. A tentative agreement has just been reached with
45,000 Stop & Shop grocery workers in New England. These
workers were also poised to strike. The main issue has been
health care and cuts in wages.
A growing movement for workers' solidarity has emerged in
Baltimore, evidenced by weekly picketing at Safeway stores by
volunteer union members; the recent defiance by Baltimore city
teachers to a school board plan to cut wages; a 10,000-person
march in Annapolis for funding for education; AFSCME's plans to
resist state budget cuts; and the state AFL-CIO's stand
protesting the corporate plunder of Iraq and the Pentagon's
continued occupation there.
Reprinted from the Feb. 26, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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