[SpeCies]

O.K I know one of us is employed at one of these stores out there, acknowledge this so we know your not in jail and save us all the hassle of posting bail





GARDEN GROVE, Calif. - Fifteen people were arrested during a weekend labor rally in front of Vons supermarket as a Southern California grocery strike slid into its 100th day.



The pickets, including Anaheim City Councilman Richard Chavez, were arrested on a misdemeanor charge of failing to disperse, then cited and released. The rally Saturday drew 1,200 people.


About 70,000 grocery clerks from Kroger Co.'s Ralphs, Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Albertsons Inc. have been locked out or on strike since Oct. 11 over contract differences, particularly the cost and scope of health care benefits for current employees and future hires.


The three store chains have been negotiating as a bloc. They have been operating with replacement workers since the strike began.


"The families involved continue to suffer because there are no paychecks coming in," said Chavez. Striking employees also became ineligible for medical benefits Jan. 1, and must pay if they want insurance through March.


The union had stopped picketing outside Ralphs on Oct. 31 as a convenience to shoppers but resumed last week.


Ralphs spokesman Terry O'Neil confirmed that striking workers showed up at about a dozen stores last week.


"We were anticipating it and we had a contingency plan," O'Neil said. "We have seen very little impact on our ability to get our shelves stocked."
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[MuLiShA]

The strike is honestly annoying. I always see them outside and they tend to give you extremely bad looks for going there. Gotta get my groceries somewhere.
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Usually my sig goes here, but who the hell needs one anyways.

[Bright Red Nipples]

[Blown]

Not everyone is watching it, personally I get annoyed by strikes. What is it basically about then? I thought one of the stores wasnt a union and they were striking??

[ProudWhiteTrash]

I thought you all had some provision in your constitution that allowed you the right to protest....

Replacement Workers = Scabs

The goverment has turned its back on Workers Rights. The only people out there doing anything to ensure that workers are compensated properly are the unions. Think twice before crossing a picket line. Your undermining the worker right to fight for a fair wage to feed his family.
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All comments are not nessasary those of the author so should not be taken as so.
Several chemical imbalances and mental health diseases may also exist.
Chances are if you feel flamed or attacked that I simply forgot to take my medication.

[Vicoden]

If you get annoyed by strikes then its doing its job. If strikers annoy the customer, it also reflects poorly on the business improving the chances that the strikers will have a better chance at getting a fair deal. Unions are big part of this countrys workforce, and an important one at that. Compare it to being a NFL quarterback with no offensive line to block for you....good luck!! If you look at unions you will see that the employees have better wages, benefits, insurance and pensions then those that don't belong. Really the only way you can beat it, is to go into business for yourself and hire cheap non-union underskilled workers. But if you don't want the stress of an 80 hour work week, then the union is your best bet.

I'm not saying the Union is the only way to go, I believe you should have as many options as can be for your employment. I just think unions get a bad rap too often by people that don't really understand what they are all about. They see it as some member-only club that is forced to think and vote a certain way.

I worked as a non-union carperter for several years then joined the union about 7 years ago. And there is no-way I am going back!!

[MuLiShA]

But the whole strike I feel is ridiculous in the first place. I don't mean to offend anyone, but these jobs are unskilled labor, plain and simple. They already had adequate benefits but they wanted more while the stores maintain that they wouldn't be able to afford it. I know lots of people that worked at these grocery stores but were forced to quit their job because they had no income, and then didn't even agree with the strike. I am curious what the percentage of the workers actually agree to this. And btw BRN, I have no choice. It is the only grocery store near me and I don't want to drive an extra 15 minutes.
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Usually my sig goes here, but who the hell needs one anyways.

[FragFailure]

I used to be anti-union. This was until I experienced "at will" employment. Basically most companies can fire you for "any reason or no reason at all." This may sound "liberal" of me. With downsizing, people are treated more like a cog than a human. Corporations care about "more profit" rather than the consequences of letting too many people go. Around 1999 companies started "streamlining, downsizing and reorganizing." This means eliminating jobs and having the other remaining employees multitask more. Am I asking for companies to operate in the red? No, I am not. When companies are only about "more profit." You will see a continuing loss of the middle class. Middle class people will lose their jobs and be forced back to the lower class (or lower middle class.)

My situation is some of the same. I had one company put pressure on people to quit. They were having people leave and not replace anyone. I've had two other companies flat out close shop. I've seen another company falsely accuse people of stealing in order to get rid of them.

You wonder why people are under much more stress now than at any other time? All our expenses continue to increase way ahead of the 3% cost of living expense. Job security is less, pay isn't increasing much, bills and expenses are.

Do the unions have their problems? Absolutley, they did/do. However, they do protect the workers. Ask yourself this. Why does a college degree and your first office job (depending on where you live) get you the low 20's? Why does a trade union job get you more? Does it seem fair that a college graduate on the average makes less than a guy who just goes straight to trade school?

Is it that the unions are too strong or the corporations (for non-union) holding salaries down? If you take the IBEW in Las Vegas. I know for a fact that a union worker makes

If corporations "gouge" and "cut" too much, people lose their jobs, they don't work, they don't spend and the economy stagnates. The pendulum has swung too far against the workers. I'll take a union/govt job over a corporate one any day.
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[Vicoden]

I agree with you mulisha that grocery store work is unskilled and more of an entry level position for high school kids and 35 yearolds still living with their parents. I was quite surprised when I first saw this story on the news, in my part of the country gorcery workers aren't union. I think unions are great for the skilled worker but for something like this I think its a far fetch that they will get what they want, their "trade" is too easily replaced (see first sentence). But like I said before I think there should be as many options as possible for employement. Thats what made this country great, If this country wasn't for free thinking and diverse opportunity think of where it would be right now.

[Bright Red Nipples]

[ROOFCUTTER]

I have no love for the grocery chains. they are acting like a monopoly. I would think they should get some goverment attention for this.
Not just for this strike but for price setting and areas are being divided up in a big, lets get the prices up as high as we can. There is no competion here.

I feel for the clerks and such but the food is already to high. I dont want to pay more just so someone gets to pay a less amount for insurance.
We all have to absorb the costs of health care. I have to pay for mine why do I want to pay for theirs too.

Insuracne sucks. If we did not have it at all the cost of medical would have to drop.
It leaves to many ways to loot the system leaving everyone paying for all these excess. the only thing that goes down is the quality of services,
the very thing that the insurance company is supposed to provide in the first place.

Lets talk california workmans comp...
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Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

[Blown]

Ya, your right, non union companies are the devil.

Last thing our businesses will ever be is a union.

[Violent Pacifist]

[Azrael]

As far as these jobs being for unskilled workers, think again. A butcher (or meatcutter, if you will) is not an unskilled position, nor is that of a cake decorator. My aunt is a cake decorator for Ralphs, and my uncle is a butcher for Safeway. I'd like to see some high school kid come into the job force and decorate a cake the way my aunt can. Unless they're a phenom, it aint gonna happen. Both my aunt and Uncle are union members, and this thing the grocery chains are doing is just plain absurd.
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Under construction!!!

[SpeCies]

I have a friend who is a Butcher and man does he bring home the bacon!!!!