Posted on 09/27/2013 7:50:28 AM PDT by llevrok
SEATTLE - Thousands of Puget Sound grocery workers voted Thursday to authorize a strike over stalled labor contract talks.
The strike authorization was approved by 98 percent of the union members. It allows the union to call a strike and set up picket lines if an agreement is not reached with employers.
Some 30,000 workers at Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC and Albertson's in the Puget Sound region are affected. The vote comes as grocery store workers say they've reached the last straw.
Union members are upset the company wants to reduce holiday pay, hold wages at current rates, and force part-time workers to get health benefits through the new government health care plan.
"The employers ... are all companies with huge sales that have money to pay their CEOs millions. Yet their proposal so far would just cut and take away from their own workers," said Tom Geiger, communication director for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21.
The grocery employer's lead negotiator, Scott Powers, said that the strike authorization vote is "not unusual."
"The important thing is that we get back to the bargaining table and do the hard work of putting a negotiated settlement together," Powers said. "The employers are focused on reaching agreement on a fair contract that is in the best interests of their associates, customers and businesses."
Stores throughout King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties could be affected with shorter hours or closing some locations.
Vacation expenses! You left out 'Disney vacay' expenses. And gasoline to and from work, and oh, heck... a new car every 2 years. And one of the new fancy-a$$ iPhones with a gold-plated holder.
Oh, and a break room cabinet stocked at all times with a limitless supply of the new-and- improved Hostess Twinkies & Ding Dongs would be nice, so we could all be reminded on a daily basis of how HOSTESS WENT BANKRUPT BECAUSE OF THE GREEDY UNION!
I have posted for awhile about businesses in my area going to 30 hour weeks this year.
We have an independent grocery store owned by a very sharp family. They had two stores and closed on shortly after Obama care was voted in.
Then about a year ago, they informed their union employees that all workers would be reduced to 30 hours/week, and some employees went to bigger chains/stores.
Makes me wonder if they had a heads up re going early to the 30 hour week for all non management employees.
Well, I live in Pierce County and have a Safeway, Fred Meyer, Super Wal-Mart and a Winco all within 5 miles. The only places I shop are Winco and Wal Mart. Fred Meyer and Safeway are just too high. I ran to Safeway yesterday (closest store) and the guy in front of me spent just under $400 on groceries. I was thinking to myself he could have saved AT LEAST $100 at Winco, and it’s only 5 minutes further down the road, and has a much better selection than the puny little Safeway here in Graham. I have no problem crossing a picket line. Probably won’t have to since I don’t go to those stores very often.
“They will blame the supermarkets for ‘forcing’ them into the undesirible ACA, not Obama and the democrats for creating the ACA that is ‘forcing’ the supermarkets to do what they are doing. Logic and reason are in short supply in modern America.”
Yet the GOPe and a few FReepers are saying we should let Obamacare go into effect so that people will see how bad it is! Then they will surely come to their senses and demand a repeal!
Yep, even tho history and facts are not on their side, they keep saying we should give up now! What we are seeing is another period of FR cleaning....
had a very good barber who went on a rant about how he’d never shop at Winco because they are non-union.
Note: I said “had” a good barber.
Safeway and Fred Meyer are not strangers to work stoppages. Usually the unions pool their efforts/resources and attack just one of the chains. I vividly remember when Fred Meyer was hit for about 3 months when I worked there. My group, although also union, refused to honor the teamster pickets and went to work anyway. During that time, I also made an attempt to have an election to decertify the union representation by our local, while I was in that union. It failed but I later ended up in management. Not so bad.
Lets make it so easy, even a union member could understand.
Your employer should be made responsible for paying ALL your expenses of any type.
Good for you! I don’t give a flying crap about unions. In this economy, I just find it very hard to believe ANYONE would jeopardize their job in this way. If my circumstances were different, I’d go apply at Fred Meyer or Safeway today!
The Grocery Unions pulled this about eight years ago, here in SoCal. The impacted grocers were pretty big back then, and it was a pain for the consumer.
Since that time, in my little town (50,000), a Trader Joe’s, and Walmart Grocery opened up, and Target dramatically expanded their grocery department (all non union).
Just as with the Hostess strike, these unions are like little kids, who hold their breath, and turn purple, because they think they will prevail. The consumer will be better off, when all is said and done, and the unions will find themselves with less, rather than more benefits, and power.
The union rank and file is to be pitied, as sheep being sheared by their supposed protectors.
They will get what they deserve, all right, but not what they want.
A lot of freepers said this about electing Obama in the first place--let the sheeple get a good dose of leftwing garbage and then watch them wake up and elect a conservative republican in 2012.
You'd think we'd learn that that strategy is a loser by now.
True that ! My 15 year old daughter (at the time) took a job as a courtesy clerk (bagger, etc.). The one year she spent in that organization made her more anti union than the previous 15 years under my roof! Thanks ;)
The whole CEO pay thing is such garbage. I read an article recently which stated that the average salary of a FTSE 100 CEO is $1.3 million/year.
The FTSE has a market cap of over £1,549 billion.
Republicans were saying the same about Clinton! If the interwebs were up and running, I’m sure a few FReepers would have joined in!
“The whole CEO pay thing is such garbage.”
Exactly. What the “working man” fails to realize is that the “work schedule” for CEO’s is something that 99% of us would not tolerate. It takes a very rare personality to work 20 hours a day, every day, and have a few vacations to spend withe family. If you put a CEO’s schedule and duties in front of most people, they would NEVER want to take on the job!
You’re right, but even that argument is irrelevant and there are CEOs that don’t work that hard and who enjoy all the perks of office to the max. Who works harder is not the fundamental argument and those kinds of comparisons just force you into the Left’s trap.
What the 99% are about is communism. The entire movement is focused on the destruction of private property rights. Are they the owners of the FTSE 100? Is that their personal property? No, it isn’t and if it were they have a voice at whatever diluted level their stock-ownership represents.
Otherwise they’re really just a bunch of manipulative control freaks trying to tell someone how to live. What the Left does is try to frame the argument on their terms and using their definitions. We need to right from the start reject their definitions and terms. They’re built on lies and the abuse of language, which is in and of itself a logical fallacy.
In every group there will always be a 1%. If they got there by achievement, so be it and more power to them. We stand for merit and encourage it in every aspect of human life. Our motto: Be your best.
If that 1% got there by manipulating laws and political power to their benefit (classic rent seeking behavior (sadly the economic term is “rent seeking”, but the vernacular is so much clearer - crony capitalism - and should be used by free market economists)) then we’ll join you in deposing them, along with the entire political class. We’ll do you better and eliminate the parasitic class from the teat and vein of productive society.
So who cares more the 99%ers or us? We do and without a doubt.
I agree with you that it is irrelevant, however I have used it successfully in my interactions with union folks at the local taverns. In addition, I wasn’t using 99% as “the 99%” which you are referencing.
I use the argument for those that are the useful idiots, not those like you that are not willfully ignorant!
;-)
And the guys who manufacture the self-checkout computers are laughing their rear ends off all the way to the bank...
Fortunately, the chain I almost always go to is not affected.
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