Posted on 09/18/2011 9:38:52 AM PDT by South40
Talks continued Saturday but employees could walk off job Sunday night
Mike Knapp wasn’t sympathetic when he heard the news that grocery workers in Southern California might walk off the job in coming days.
“Go ahead and strike, lots of people need a job,” he wrote Friday in comments on SignOnSanDiego.com. “I will see all of you as I cross the picket line.”
He’s among many people who are criticizing the United Food and Commercial Workers for considering a strike on Albertsons, Vons and Ralphs at a time when county unemployment is at 10.2 percent, a record number of people are on food stamps and just about everyone is paying more for health care.
Many consumers are questioning if a strike or the move by some grocery store chains to close if there is a walkout makes any sense given the weak economy.
It’s not surprising that people who have lost their jobs or who are paying more for their health care may resent grocery workers for demanding more from their employers, said Esmael Adibi, director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University.
“In San Diego County we have 160,000 people who are unemployed. To them, if they look at somebody else deciding to walk out of a job, they have no sympathy,” Adibi said. “Even those who are employed, it’s a national trend with health care that employers are shifting more of the cost onto employees.”
Strike could still be effective
While there appears to be less support for workers than in 2003, when the union went on strike for four grueling months, the disruption, bad publicity and lost business caused by a strike could still be an effective tool in forcing the grocery companies to compromise, said labor expert Jai Ghorpade.
“Many people I think are sympathetic, and I don’t see why what’s happening in the economy should change their minds,” said Ghorpade, professor emeritus of management at San Diego State University.
It’s typical for a strike to bring out strong feelings, including anti-union sentiment, but in the end, many people won’t want to interfere, Ghorpade said. “Many people, when they are actually faced with workers on the picket line, are reluctant to take them on,” he said. “When there’s a human face, people don’t want to cross that line.”
That includes customers like Charles Bradshaw, 35, of Escondido, who said he won’t shop at his local Albertsons if there’s a strike.
“I’m going to load up on anything I would buy there before a strike happens,” he said. While the economy is in bad shape, he said, “I don’t think there’s ever a good time to have a strike because it hurts everyone... It’s the highest level of labor conflict.”
“That being said, there’s only so much that people who are making barely above the minimum wage should be asked to pay, relative to the profits that the executives make and the companies are making.”
Risk for stores and workers
But two of the grocery store chains, Ralphs and Albertsons, are already addressing consumer concerns about crossing picket lines head on. Friday, Ralphs and Albertsons announced that they intend to close stores for an undetermined amount of time if a strike is called, while Vons stores plan to stay open with temporary workers to the extent possible. The UFCW said that workers on strike would picket outside stores, even those that are closed.
Ralphs said it plans to reopen all the stores eventually, but Albertsons said decisions about reopening stores will be based on “business conditions that exist at the time.”
Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group in New York, wasn’t surprised that the chains would shut down stores temporarily or permanently. He believes a strike would damage the grocery chains and increase competitors’ market share to the point where the union stores may not be viable. “If there’s a strike everybody at the bargaining table loses and every nonunion competitor wins,” Flickinger said, “because the competitors will have record sales, record profitability and record opportunities for expansion.”
Labor union-related costs have caused supermarket chains to close stores before, most recently in the 1980s when Ralphs/Kroger shut down divisions in Pittsburgh and Kansas City, he said. In the 1970s, the A&P supermarket chain shut down its San Diego and Los Angeles stores because of labor-union costs, he said.
The supermarket chains have had some ups and downs. For example, Supervalu, parent company of Albertsons, reported $393 million in profits in fiscal year 2010 but a net loss of $1.51 billion in 2011. Analysts say that the chains need to cut costs to stay competitive with rivals such as non-union grocery store Fresh & Easy, which has opened 13 county outlets since 2007.
Hoping for last-minute deal
After eight months of negotiations with the Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons chains, the UFCW gave notice on Thursday that it may call a strike at any time after 7 tonight over a failure so far to reach agreement on health benefits.
The grocery chains have repeatedly issued statements condemning what they call union strike threats that “unnecessarily alarm” employees and customers.
The threat of a strike is the most powerful weapon that labor unions have in their arsenal as they negotiate with an employer. Both sides have been negotiating around the clock.
Many of the workers are holding out hope for a last-minute resolution.
“I’m fine because I don’t think anything’s going to happen,” said Charlie Logan, 50, a dairy manager at Vons in Chula Vista, who said he dreads the prospect of another extended strike. “I really think they’re going to come to an 11th hour agreement at the end and save us all.”
Health benefits debate
The labor unions contend that the grocery chains can afford to offer good benefits for their employees, but many observers don’t understand exactly what they want.
People have focused on the seemingly minor increase in paycheck deductions and co-pays, which is only part of the issue. Under the grocery chains’ proposal, some workers would go from having no paycheck deductions to having an average of $92 per month deducted for health insurance, although it would vary depending on family size and other factors. (More than two-thirds of the workers are part-time and they make between $8 and $19 an hour.)
Mellissa Forster Anderson expressed an opinion that was common on SignOnSanDiego comments on Friday. “Just try and get health care for one person at that price, talk about being out of touch,” she wrote.
The real issue, though, is basic solvency of the healthcare benefits fund, said Mickey Kasparian, president of UFCW Local 135 in San Diego. That’s the fund that pays benefit claims when union members see a doctor or are hospitalized.
“We have to make sure there’s more money coming in than going out,” Kasparian said. “If there more money going out, you have two choices: you can either reduce benefits or put more money in.” He’s worried about having to reduce benefits for members or increase their paycheck deductions before the contract is up.
The grocery chains say their proposed contributions would be enough to sustain benefits.
Since the negotiations are confidential, it’s difficult to know if one side is being unreasonable.
“All we have is their opinion on whether (the fund is) being drained or not being drained,” Ghorpade said.
Trader Joe’s, which is non-union, so a huge spike in business during the last strike. Interestingly, their employees seem much happier and are definitely more friendly than the sulky lifers over at Pavilions...
LOL The non union stores should love that. Chasing the union stores out of town should work well for the unions. /s
“No, many people when faced with a picket line, are afraid they’ll get beaten up if they try to cross it. And quite frankly, history validates that fear. “
It’s one thing for society to turn a blind eye when someone gets beaten up for breaking union strike line at the National Metal Company.
Quite another when someone gets beat up going to buy diapers or milk at the grocery store.
“It’s one thing for society to turn a blind eye when someone gets beaten up for breaking union strike line at the National Metal Company.”
Disagree. I don’t care where the line is, gooniun thugs have no right to disrupt business or customers. Ever.
My son is pacing like a shark. As soon as the strike is called, he’s going in to help pack up. He sees dollar signs.
Even in these hard times, my two nearby Trader Joe's are regularly jam-packed. Attitude in retail is everything.
P.S....try a jar of their caramel ice cream topping...to die for!
Leni
Same thing at my local Wegman’s here in VA. They also are non-union, family run, found in VA, PA, NY - started in Rochester NY. Great place to shop, regularly voted one of the best places to work in the country.
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