The 45,000-person Verizon strike may soon be eclipsed in size, as Southern California
grocery workers have voted to authorize a strike.
After the weekend's strike authorization vote,
[...] federal mediators on Monday set an Aug. 29 meeting to begin "intensive" talks to try to resolve differences between management and the union representing 62,000 food workers.
The food workers voted overwhelmingly over the weekend to authorize their leadership to call for a strike at the chains—including The Vons Cos. Inc.; Ralphs Grocery Co., a subsidiary of The Kroger Co.; and Albertsons, owned by Supervalu Inc.
Workers are reported to average between $17,000 and $24,000 per year. A 2003-2004 strike and lockout ended with substantial concessions on the part of the workers, but obviously not total defeat given that they're still here and fighting.
Predictably, health care costs are at the center of the negotiations. Also predictably, the grocery chains are pointing out that their workers pay less for insurance than do many other people. The unions, though, say they aren't purely concerned about their members' immediate costs:
But Shimpock said that the union is concerned about the long-term sustainability of the health care fund.
"With the amount they’re offering now, the fund would go bankrupt by next September," he said. "We’re worried about increased costs, of course. But it doesn’t matter if premiums are $2 or $200 if the benefits are eventually eliminated."
Imagine how differently all these negotiations would go if we had a functional health care system.