The number of customers shopping at local supermarkets has increases as students, in particular, cross picket lines.
By Kimiko L. Martinez
Editor in Chief
A picketer outside the Calabasas Albertson’s smiles a greeting as a customer approaches the entrance.
“How are you doing?” she nods.
The man shuffles past, pushing his cart while staring at the ground.
A pair of women offer their condolences as they too cross the picket line.
“I support you guys,” one says, “but I’m sick, and (my mother) is old. I just can’t be GRAM SHEA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER running around.”
Ralphs employee Mike Moody pickets in front of the
Malibu Colony supermarket.
And so the story goes for hundreds of Southern California unionized supermarket employees who have been on strike or locked of their jobs for almost three weeks. Locals who have been regular customers are increasingly crossing the picket lines unable or unwilling to endure the inconvenience or increase in prices at alternative markets, such as Whole Foods, Gelson’s, and Trader Joe’s.
In Malibu, Ralphs employees say that while most locals have respected and supported their cause, some even bringing food and snacks to picketers, students are the ones most frequently crossing the picket lines.
“Kids from Pepperdine are shopping here when they can go to Hal’s or Cook’s,” said Ana, a Ralphs service deli worker. “When they call the deli and want a tray of 30 sandwiches in just an hour, I always do it for them. A lot of people support us, now they have to support us.”
Local Lillian Arnesti agreed.
“Tell the students they should know better,” she said. “They’re fighting a cause here.”
But just what that cause is seems to be much in debate. With the supermarkets and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union claiming different things, many consumers are confused about whom to believe.
“(People) think we’re out her for a lousy $5 a week from our paycheck (to cover the increase in health benefits), but by the end of the contract, it’s $95 a week from our check,” said a Vons employee in Agoura Hills. “That’s a lot of money. Seventy-five percent of us work part time. We don’t all make $17.90 an hour. Hardly any of us do.”
While most picketers, many of whom have worked for the company for more than a decade, are ready to get back to work, it doesn’t seem like that will be happening any time soon. Representatives from the supermarkets seem uneager to reopen contract negotiations, and although the UFCW recently sued Albertson’s Inc. and Kroger Co.’s Ralphs chain for locking out employees without proper notice, many employees of Vons, Albertson’s and Ralphs feel they have little recourse in getting their jobs back.
“If we go back to work now, we have to work an entire quarter with no benefits,” said Boriana, a bagger at the Malibu Ralphs store. “The manager says, ‘I want you to come back inside. I need you.’ And I know it’s hard for him, but this is the way life is.
“I’m getting tired because when you’re working inside, you’re running around all day doing things. And the time flies by. Now, time moves so slow.”
Many say their options are limited finding a new job or crossing their own picket lines and get their old jobs back, taking a significant cut in benefits and pay. Ralphs and Albertson’s employees can also file for unemployment. And although the union does compensate picketers for their time, workers say it’s a far cry from what they would usually make, ranging from $20 to $40 a day.
“If we cross the picket line, we get our job back, but they won’t pay us as much,” said one Vons employee, a floor manager who asked to be referred to as Ashley. “I was a good employee. I never called in sick. I got many awards in customer service. And I feel very embarrassed. Now we have to tell regular customers, don’t shop here. I feel terrible.
I would be fine to pay the insurance. We just want to go back to work.”
October 30, 2003