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Why go through with a grocery strike in this economy?
San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | 9/17/2011 | TANYA MANNES

Posted on 09/18/2011 9:38:52 AM PDT by South40

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To: South40

No sympathy. Fire them all.


21 posted on 09/18/2011 10:14:43 AM PDT by Not A Snowbird (When life gives you lemons, throw them back and demand chocolate.)
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I have mixed feelings about unions. In the past, unions have done both good and bad things. They helped do away with some of incredibly dangerous working conditions in mines, as well as "company towns" where workers and their families lived almost like the serfs in medieval Europe. On the other hand, they've also brought real pain to a lot of people, because of their unwillingness to work with management, forcing some businesses out of business (Eastern Airlines, for example) or overseas. The worst of all are government unions, including teachers unions, who have incredible antagonism towards their employers, the tax payers.

Interestingly enough, many unions have strong ties to socialist or even communist organizations, while in communist countries, unions are illegal. Remember, "Solidarity" was a ship-builders union in Poland that was outlawed by the government. But it was instrumental (along with the Pope" in freeing Poland from communist rule.

My personal experience with unions has been bad, like being forced to join a union in NY in order to work part time at a drug store chain while I was in high school.

Mark

22 posted on 09/18/2011 10:19:11 AM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: South40

I was at a subway corner waiting for a friend of mine in Hollywood and one of these union scumbuckets set up a table to stop bystanders to spread the word of “unionism”.

Lucky for me I was with my Filipino right-wing friend who made sarcastic remarks with a straight face, and provided the entertainment for a bit.


23 posted on 09/18/2011 10:20:03 AM PDT by max americana (FUBO NATION 2012 FK BARAK)
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To: South40

Because they’re idiots. They pulled that stunt here in NJ not long ago at Pathmark. That store is now closed.


24 posted on 09/18/2011 10:21:51 AM PDT by jersey117
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To: MinuteGal

Same old story...union workers making 35 bucks an hour strike and their employer calmly
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I thought I had read during the recent Verizon ‘strike’ that the workers were allowed to draw unemployment.
This must have been a typo(??) as unemployment is supposed to be when you no longer have a job, due to the employer, NOT because you just quit, NOT because you went on strike, NOT because you were fired, the ‘main’ reason being that you were no longer working due to NO fault of your own.


25 posted on 09/18/2011 10:23:41 AM PDT by xrmusn ((6/98) If govt involved, the more outlandish a scheme appears, the truer it probably is.)
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To: South40
Funny, how government employees are showered with top shelf benefits, the best medical plans, lottery style government tax paid pensions yet the those who work in supermarkets want too much and are greedy.

Many have not a clue, and don't know, there are now more unionized *government* employees, than those in the private sector.

26 posted on 09/18/2011 10:36:45 AM PDT by dragnet2 ((Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit))
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

I’m close by to a couple of Ralphs too, but I only go there for 2 things: the occasional sale of eggs and peanut butter. The rest I can buy at Food 4 Less, 99 cent store, Jons and Fresh N Easy. No big deal. If I did find those items and am in a really bad mood, I would cross the picket line. Done it before more than a couple of times..


27 posted on 09/18/2011 10:52:46 AM PDT by max americana (FUBO NATION 2012 FK BARAK)
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To: SoCal Pubbie

i wouldn’t walk into costco if it were my choice.

but, my little wifey says we save money on vitamins and paper products.


28 posted on 09/18/2011 10:57:52 AM PDT by ken21 (ruling class dem + rino progressives -- destroying america for 150 years.)
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To: South40

we still have a boney’s. it doesn’t seem competitive with the henry’s and sprouts.

boney’s is the part of the henry boney family that did not sell out to wild oats.

when wild oats was bought by whole foods, the henry’s were sold to smart and final. smart and final bought some sunflower and albertsons in colo and az.

recently smart and final and henry’s , now sprouts, was purchased by an investment company.

stan boney of scottsdale will manage the food stores for the investment company.

and there’s even more to the story.


29 posted on 09/18/2011 11:08:44 AM PDT by ken21 (ruling class dem + rino progressives -- destroying america for 150 years.)
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To: South40
Labor union members are cattle, herded to the will of their well paid union bosses.

The membership thinks strikes are over wages, benefits and working conditions. The bosses let them think that. What strikes are really about is power and control - the power of the union bosses to force their will upon the owners and management of an enterprise and to gain, or increase, the control, influence and wealth of the bosses.

The lowly Union members never regain lost wages when they go on strike but the bosses keep collecting their inflated salaries.

And they keep building the value of the various union funds controlled by them but financed by the employer. Increasing the flow of money into those gargantuan funds is a main objective of the union bosses. They control these funds and they decide who gets loans, contributions, contracts, etc. That gives them a lot of clout, especially with greedy politicians.

Before the federal government was a wholly owned subsidiary of the labor unions we used to see the justice department bring charges against them and it was almost always over mismanagement of their multimillion dollar funds such as retirement, health, education, PACs, etc.

30 posted on 09/18/2011 11:09:05 AM PDT by Iron Munro (Muslims who advocate, support, or carry out Jihad give the other 1% a bad name)
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To: Ellendra

The last time these fools went on strike (2003) I crossed their lines often. On one occasion they were all at one entrance of a Ralph’s as I approached the other. A kid I recognized ran over to the other entrance, positioned himself in my path and held his sign out in front of him in an attempt to block me from entering. I pushed him and his sign to the side (I’m a fairly big man). Just then a checker I know started to scold him for his actions. She told him that these people (me) are their customers and that they need us to shop there when this strike is over. I thanked her, looked at the kid and told him I will remember his face. I never saw him again.


31 posted on 09/18/2011 11:26:21 AM PDT by South40 (Rick Perry = The Other McCain)
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To: MarkL

“I have mixed feelings about unions. In the past, unions have done both good and bad things”......
*************************************************************
I look at unions the same as wheelwrights.Both helped in the transition from pre-industrial to the industrial age.Wheelwrights became irrelevant after the invention of balloon tires and metal rims and likewise unions have outlived their usefulness since the adoption of labor laws they helped implement.


32 posted on 09/18/2011 11:33:49 AM PDT by WePledge (Ich werde fur immer ein Hollenhund werden. Semper Fidelis)
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To: mylife
The independents are the only ones who profit from these strikes. I'll gladly give them my business as I do not buy meat from a chain during a strike. Canned foods etc are another thing.

I just returned from Vons a moment ago; I went there since starting this thread. The long lines I expected as many, myself included, were trying to get in some last minute shopping before the strike. But I soon realized that the lines were being caused by the employees who were moving in slow motion. I have never seen lines that long -- ever -- and I am 53 years old. I finally spoke up and told the checker (a woman about 30) that this is why the public doesn't support them on the strike. She got only 2 words of her response out of her mouth before all those around me applauded my excoriation of her. I heard the woman behind me telling her off as I left.

33 posted on 09/18/2011 11:34:17 AM PDT by South40 (Rick Perry = The Other McCain)
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To: South40

Agreed. Especially when grocery stores have margins of only 1-2%. They can’t afford to keep food prices low AND give raises. And given the plethora of food choices, this will lead to one more union grocery going bankrupt as non-union grocers thrive.


34 posted on 09/18/2011 11:54:36 AM PDT by tbw2
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To: South40

Unions wreck everything they touch.


35 posted on 09/18/2011 11:59:55 AM PDT by mylife (OPINIONS ~ $ 1.00 HALFBAKED ~ 50c)
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To: South40
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.

Sounds to me like the union is the insurer. What could possibly go wrong? /s

36 posted on 09/18/2011 12:04:49 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (So much stress was put on Bush's Fault that it finally let go, magnitude 6)
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To: Ellendra

I tend to shop at Trader Joe’s and a little at Ralph’s because they have a community rewards program that donates to my daughter’s school, so does Vons. I will be crossing picket lines at a higher cost to myself just to cross them.


37 posted on 09/18/2011 12:32:26 PM PDT by porter_knorr
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To: South40
I hope they're hearing a lot of that today.
38 posted on 09/18/2011 1:34:59 PM PDT by newzjunkey (Will racist demagogue Andre Carson be censured by the House?)
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To: RC2

Exactly so. I’m not going without so some union goon can get more of my money.


39 posted on 09/18/2011 1:37:33 PM PDT by Scotsman will be Free (11C - Indirect fire, infantry - High angle hell - We will bring you, FIRE)
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To: newzjunkey
I hope they're hearing a lot of that today.

I think they are in part because we've all been through this before and consumers just don't seem to have the patience to go through it again.

You're in San Diego, aren't you? These petty fools need to hear it from everyone. Try to stop by your local grocer and let them know you don't support their cause. I've had conversations over the past few weeks with several Ralph's employees who seemed surprised that I did not support their shaking down their employer. I do think I got through to one who apparently never saw it from the consumer's perspective. Many though, were clearly liberals and were quickly identified as a lost cause.

40 posted on 09/18/2011 1:50:58 PM PDT by South40 (Rick Perry = The Other McCain)
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