As grocery chains refuse union offer
Workers dig in heels, step up picketing
By Ian Thompson
Los Angeles
Four months into the historic strike and
lockout of grocery workers in Southern California fighting
against supermarket giants Vons, Ralphs and Albertson's, the
members of the United Food and Com mercial Workers remain
militant on the picket lines and steadfast in their demands to
maintain healthcare benefits and decent wages.
Community support for the 70,000 strikers is also as solid
as ever. Unions and activist groups are strengthening picket
lines at grocery stores throughout Southern California and
holding solidarity actions across the U.S.
On Feb. 4, just days after a 20,000-strong march and rally
in Inglewood, Calif., to support the grocery workers, the seven
UFCW local unions involved in the strike and lockout held five
simultaneous, coordinated press conferences to announce their
offer to enter into binding arbitration with the supermarkets
as a means of ending the strike.
Among those present at the Los Angeles press conference were
UFCW local presidents Connie Leyva, Rick Icaza and Greg Conger.
They were joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Los Ange les Mayor
James Hahn, officials from unions work ing in solidarity with
the UFCW, and representatives of various community sup port
organizations, including the Com munity Action Project to
Support Labor (CAPSL), a project of the Inter national ANSWER
Coalition.
Under the terms presented by the union, an arbitrator to be
selected jointly by the union and the bosses would hear
evidence and arguments from both sides and then render a final
decision to settle the strike and lockout. In addition, during
the arbitration process all striking and locked-out workers
would return to work for the supermarkets and the scabs would
be fired.
Less than one hour later, the supermarkets arrogantly
rejected the union's offer, demonstrating the bosses' true
motives. They do not want to end the strike and lockout on
anyone's terms but their own. They want to drastically slash
healthcare benefits and force a permanent two-tier wage system
on these low-paid workers, all to increase the massive profits
the companies already enjoy. More than that, the bosses are
ultimately striving to bust this union of multinational workers
and drive wages into the ground.
The night of the press conferences, one of the striking
locals held a spirited rally at a Vons in Culver City, attended
by over 300 workers and community activists.
UFCW picketers--joined by members of the Screen Actors
Guild, CAPSL, the National Lawyers Guild, the Peace &
Freedom Party and the Los Angeles Striker Solidarity
Organization--marched around Vons chanting, "One day longer,
one day stronger," and hounding the few customers who dared to
cross the picket line. All rally participants vowed to continue
the fight for healthcare and union rights and to strengthen the
picket line at another L.A.-area Vons every week until the
union prevails.
Solidarity coast to coast
National solidarity actions are also on the rise.
In late January the AFL-CIO announ ced it would coordinate a
national campaign to help the UFCW win the strike.
Unions and people all over the U.S., from Baltimore to
Seattle, are realizing that the struggle of 70,000
multinational grocery workers in Southern California to save
hard-won healthcare benefits is their struggle, too, and are
carrying out solidarity actions at Safeway stores.
On Feb. 5 in New York, 1,000 grocery workers, union members
and community activists marched on Wall Street in solidarity
with the Southern California grocery workers. They protested
investment firms and stockbrokers who are instructing rich
investors to buy stock in Vons (Safeway), Ralphs (Kroger) and
Albert son's in order to artificially inflate their financial
profiles. In fact, these greedy supermarket chains have each
lost hundreds of millions of dollars in sales during the strike
and lockout. Why urge investors to buy now? Because Wall Street
and the super-rich corporate interests it represents stand to
profit if the grocery workers lose this strike.
Like Wal-Mart, the company that the supermarket bosses have
invoked through out the strike as the main reason they need to
lower wages and cut healthcare, the supermarkets are not above
violating federal and state laws to further their anti-union
interests. This week, the union revealed that Ralphs hired at
least 200 people to work under phony names and Social Security
numbers during the lockout. The U.S. Attorney's office in Los
Angeles is currently investigating these serious charges.
The supermarket and Wall Street bosses fully intend to win
the strike and smash the union by breaking the law with
impunity, refusing to negotiate, and starving out the workers.
They believe they can set a nationwide precedent by making
workers pay for their healthcare benefits.
But the determination of the workers and community stands in
the way of the supermarkets' greedy aspirations. As a striking
grocery worker stated while picketing outside a Vons store this
week, "We are going to stay out here as long as it takes to win
this whole thing."
Reprinted from the Feb. 19, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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