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NEWS & LETTERS, January-February 2004Ongoing L.A. grocery strikeLos Angeles--While Steve Burd, Von's (Safeway) CEO, is under investigation for cashing in his $30 million in stock options before the strike began last October, the strikers at Von's, Albertsons and Safeway are uncertain about the state of current talks between management and the union. The main concern of the workers is health care, but the underlying issue is the company demand for two-tier pay. "I am sure they will find a way to get rid of the workers making $17.90 an hour, if they can replace them with workers making $14.90,” explained one worker. "Management wants to hire box boys without health benefits for the first two years, with the excuse that these employees live with their parents. That is not even true--some have to support a family.” Another management scheme to get rid of old employees is to grade newcomers higher on a written exam at the annual review procedure. Management is trying to cut the time-and-a-half pay for Sunday work. They also want to take away two holidays. They want to do away with the 85 formula for retirement--combined age and length of service equaling 85--and replace it with retirement no earlier than age 60 no matter how long someone has worked. The management proposal would sharply cut retirement benefits by freezing future benefits earned. The proposal that strikers are rejecting would increase the employee’s contribution to health premiums to $30, then $45 and $90 per week within three years, with an increase in prescription co-payment to $10, $20 and finally $30 over the three-year contract for each prescription. A worker hospitalized with a $20,000 hospital bill would be responsible for up to $10,000--half of the entire bill. They also want a cap on chemotherapy treatment! At the same time, some employees of Ralphs were resentful that they were asked to stop picketing at Ralphs and picket at other stores. A striker complained, "I’m bitter about picketing at Von's when we are striking against Ralphs. We don’t see our union representative at all. They come from the East Coast with paid hotels and rental cars to cover our signs with a plastic bag. I can do that myself. We never see them and they don’t talk to us. They are not going to get my sign that says Boycott Ralphs.” Talks between the grocers and the union have begun, but what remains is a system which only has one objective--to increase profit by extracting the maximum production at minimum cost from the workers. The workers are walking on the sidewalks eight hours a day, six days per week, uncertain about their future but determined to win. --Manel |
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