Posted on 11/24/2003 11:16:37 AM PST by CounterCounterCulture
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer
EL MONTE, Calif. - The Teamsters union said Monday its members will stop delivering groceries to three Southern California supermarket chains where grocery clerks have been on strike or been locked out for more than a month.
The move effectively shuts off supplies to Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons stores during the critical Thanksgiving shopping week.
The action, taken after the striking clerks moved to expand their picket lines to regional distribution centers, was called a "silver bullet" by Jim Santangelo, president of Teamsters Joint Council 42 in El Monte.
"If this doesn't end it nothing will," Santangelo said of the labor dispute that began on Oct. 11.
Teamsters have refused to cross picket lines at individual stores, forcing management and non-striking workers to unload trucks.
About 70,000 grocery workers are either on strike against Vons or locked out by Albertsons and Ralphs stores, affecting nearly 860 stores from San Luis Obispo to San Diego.
Health care coverage is a main issue in the conflict with Kroger Co., owner of the Ralphs chain, Vons owner Safeway Inc. and Albertsons Inc.
A federal mediator brought both sides together two weeks ago for the first time since the dispute began but there have been no indications a compromise is near.
Union and supermarket officials were barred from commenting about the negotiations, said John Arnold, spokesman for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
It raises some interesting issues. Expect a court order shortly.
Tom Thumb employees are not unionized... but UFCW does represent Safeway employees in other states. Looks try they're trying to spread some of the inconvenience around.
To the Wagner Act's list of prohibited management practices, the Taft-Hartley Act added a list of prohibited labor union practices. These practices included secondary boycotts (when a union induces employees to strike against their employer to get him or her to stop doing business with another employer with whom the real dispute exists); sympathy strikes or boycotts (attempting to compel an employer, other than one's own, to recognize or bargain with an unrecognized union--a practice anti-labor groups often called "blackmail picketing"); and jurisdictional strikes and boycotts (attempting to force an employer to give work to members of one particular union instead of another).
Taft-Hartley just says it's illegal to engage in unfair labor practices. The practices are actually specified in 8b(4) of the National Labor Relations Act. The section you cited covers an organizational picket, and wouldn't apply in this instance.
;-)
(Sung to "Beautiful Dreamer")
Byoo-de-ful teamsters
Please let me join.
Can't drive a truck
But I'm willin to loin.....
That's what I've been telling the picketers at my neighborhood Vons store. The odd thing is I don't recognize any of the people carrying signs. It looks to me like most of the young picketers are rent-a-bodies. If the union can pay for that I think the members can afford $50 or$60 extra bucks a month for a very generous medical plan. Mine costs nearly $300 and it's only supplemental coverage.
I am answering my own question: 20%
Can you imagine the damage to the economy if Teamsters decide to call a nationwide strike?
All vendors (suppliers) have been called into the distribution centers to slowly re-start operations. A few stores at first, but more and more as temporary employees begin to get efficient. Temporary agencies are providing a few people at the start and will ramp up to meet the needs.
The highly computerized (aka "simplified") methods of modern order selection greatly reduce the need for highly skilled warehouse employees. 3rd party trucking firms will handle delivery to the stores until, like the facilities, temporary employees are hired and certified.
The Teamsters just wiped themselves out.
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