West Coast strike paves way
East Coast grocery workers' victory
By Sharon Black
Baltimore
The big business media rarely illuminates the
possibilities or the lessons of workers' struggles. The impact
of the five-month-long Southern California grocery workers'
strike and the discussions it has opened up inside the labor
movement are no exception.
On March 31, close to 30,000 Baltimore and Washington, D.C.,
grocery workers overwhelmingly approved a new four-year
contract. Ninety percent of United Food and Commercial Workers
Local 27 members voted to approve it after weeks of tough
negotiations by UFCW Locals 27 and 400.
It also followed aggressive preparations for a strike by
both locals and broad community support.
While it's important to report on the exact settlement, it's
also critical to get a reading on how the workers themselves
viewed the vote and the contract. In this case it is clear that
the vast majority felt that the union scored a huge
victory.
Every settlement and strike must also be looked at in the
context of the general class struggle. Are the workers on the
defensive? Is capitalism intensifying its attacks?
Safeway opened negotiations asking for the same concessions
the company attemp ted to ram down the throats of the Southern
California workers: elimination of health-care plans and major
cuts in every area. Giant Food and Kroger announ ced that they
would lock the workers out in the event of a strike at
Safeway.
Under the new agreement, health care benefits will remain
intact with an increase in the deductible from $100 to $200.
Pen sions are preserved and the workers will receive a
$1.25/hour wage increase over four years. This was a defeat for
the dread ed bonus system that has been a thorn for many
workers in the labor movement recently. Bosses would much
rather give a one-time bonus than a general wage increase.
On the other hand, new workers will receive lower holiday
and Sunday wages than the current workers. This was a
concession. The original demand of Safeway was to extend this
to all workers.
The weeks and months leading up to the potential showdown
between workers and grocery bosses brought with it sincere
concerns and discussion on how to prepare. It is hard to
describe the genuine fear as the union and workers scrambled to
learn the lessons of the strike on the West Coast and prepare
for a possible difficult and lengthy East Coast battle.
Key to union activists' preparation for a strike was
community support, including more aggressive tactics, and unity
bet ween both locals. Serious discussions of the union's
weaknesses and strengths were begun in weeks prior to the
contract negotiations at packed union meetings--which were
punctuated by passion, laughter and sometimes deafening
silence.
The importance of community support both in Baltimore and
Washington was clearly understood, not only in terms of the
support for Southern Cali fornia, but also how it would impact
the local contracts.
In Baltimore the AFL-CIO Labor Council and community groups
like the All Peoples Congress successfully shut down Safeway
during the course of weekend picketing. Council President Ernie
Greco was arrested. More aggressive plans were in the
offing.
In Washington, the AFL-CIO Council, which represents about
150,000 unionized workers, organized 24 community units
composed of 400 people who engaged in leafleting inside and
outside of Giant and Safeway stores for weeks.
Both locals began printing picket signs, selecting strike
captains, setting up strike funds and establishing food banks
to prepare for the possibility of a strike. Negotiations were
conducted jointly with a general committee.
But what cannot be ignored is the contribution of the
Southern California workers. As a result of the workers'
resolve, Safeway, Kroger and Albertson's lost an estimated $2
billion during the five-month strike. In simple terms, they
wore the grocery bosses' butts out.
At the contract ratification meeting in Washington the
workers did the right thing when they acknowledged the
sacrifices made by the Southern California grocery workers by
giving them a standing ovation. Workers' history will also
salute them.
Reprinted from the April 22, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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