Supermarkets 'offer' to end affordable health care

SF Gate ^ | 12/8/03 | Richard Brown and Richard Kronick

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The strike by 70,000 grocery store workers, now joined by 8,000 truck drivers, has been taking its toll in Southern California. Shoppers are inconvenienced by half-empty shelves and closed stores. Supermarket workers are trying to cope with meager strike benefits and mounting bills.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Supermarket workers are trying to cope with meager strike benefits and mounting bills.

That's what happens when you WALK OFF YOUR JOB!!!

[joltinjoe]

Oh, now I get the point of the article...Socialized health care is what we need...Like Canada and the UK.

[Hodar]

Wow, looks like the unions have a good chance to kill yet another industry.

Benefits are a 'gift' that companies use to entice their employees to work for them, versus a competitor. They are not an entitlement. When unions 'demand' the entitlements, the company is forced to make a decision. Agree to the union demands, or take their company elsewhere.

Funny, if Unions are so good; why is WalMart poised to drive the stores out of business?

[Digger]

IMO you are the ones that will pay their health costs if the companies give in. I'm glad they won't settle with these brainwashed ungratefuls.

[stylin_geek]

Nope, this article is not slanted at all....I'm also selling a lot of bridges, too. Along with the Washington Monument.

Conveniently ignored in this "article" is the fact that one only has to work 20 hours a week to qualify for health benefits, benefits that are mostly paid for by the company. Last time I looked, most employers require full time employment before any funded benefits are offered. And minimum wage full time employees being offered benefits? Far and few between....unless you work for a Union grocery store.

[concerned about politics]

During the recession, businessess were not allowed to offer higher pay for better employees. In order to lure the best, they had to offer something to get the most qualified people to work for them.
Because they couldn't use money, they chose health care. It was a "gift" for those who were worth hiring.
It was meant to be an incentive only. Now, many things start out innocently, but get totally out of hand when the Socialists or "victimizers" move in on it. Today, everyone, no matter how well they perform, demands it for free.
This was once a gift, but has now become a business busting entitlement.
In my opinion, if I ran a business, I'd drop all the freebies. If the "workers" don't like it , let them work somewhere else. I wouldn't allow anyone to control my life for me. Screw them. They should be happy to have a job.

[Smogger]

That's what happens when you WALK OFF YOUR JOB!!!

That's not entirely accurate. Ralph's and Albertson's employees are locked out.

The whole thing has gotten out of control, with the stakes becoming so high that neither side feels that they can give and inch. A situation badly in need of mediation.

Even Non-union Food 4 Less, which is not affected by the strike is running out of groceries. A kid there told me they haven't recieved a delivery in 2 weeeks because of the teamsters sympathy strike at Kroeger/Ralphs/Food 4 Less distribution facilities and by their drivers.

My neighbor, who works at Ralph's distribution facility, is one of those who is reluctantly on strike. He says the supermarket checkers didn't support them when they had to strike for a new contract back in '88. I hope the come up with a resolution soon. I doubt the supermarket's or the employees can afford more losses.

[Digger]

Why shouldn't they hold out. They see our leader making you pay for the seniors medicines. If the so-called conservative pres can give away to senoirs why can't they get their share? Pathetic!

[Digger]

These union people sure know how to win friends over (sarcasm)

[FreetheSouth!]

I believe that you mean world war two, not the recession.

[FairOpinion]

"asking their employees to "share in the cost of their health benefits" as most American workers do now."

===

Exactly. In most other industries and companies, which once used to offer very generous benefits, the benefits have been cut back and employess do have to pay part of their healthcare insurance. The sign of the times. What is so special about grocery store employees?

If they don't like the job and benefits, nobody stops them from getting another job.

I think the union bosses are at fault -- they just want to exercise power, at the expense of the employees, they are supposed to represent. The workers are losing a lot more by being out of work for 2 months, than the amount of benefit loss. In other words, if they would get everything they wanted now, it probably would take years for them to break even from the two months loss of salary.

I don't have the numbers, but suppose they were expected to chip in $20/mo for their benefits. Suppose their salary is $10/hr, that's $400/week, and $3600 for the two months (9 weeks) they have been out of work, so they lost $3600 right now. I think most workers would rather effectively had made $20 less a month. -- It will take years for them to recoup that loss, IF they would get everything they want, but they won't.

[warchild9]

Shhh...you're not supposed to mention Sacred W's socialist income redistribution. The bots will jump a union-lover like you.

/sarcasm never off

[Myrddin]

I was paying $60 per month for health insurance as a new hire to Pacific Telephone in 1980. My salary at that time was $19K/year. Today, I pay $416 per month for significantly less coverage than I had in 1980.

Perhaps Walmart can acquire some of the vacated properties as Vons and Ralphs exit the grocery business.

[Jaysun]

Unions are deplorable. I'd shut my company down before I let it go union. Why should a person work, risk, and invest in his/her own enterprise and then allow it to be "hijacked" by a union leader that dictates what you must pay to whom and what those that you pay will or will not do? When that happens, it's no longer your company - it's the union leader's company. Unions destroy jobs! For example, the Dole Pineapple plant in Hawaii is a tourist attraction and nothing else. You see, their unionized $19/hr pineapple pickers were simply too unproductive and too expensive for Dole to continue in Hawaii. They now grow pineapples in the Philippines. Congratulations to the union leader in Hawaii who got great pay for his members - albeit great pay for only a short time - now they make zilch. I wonder why that union leader doesn't start growing pineapples and dishing out $19/hr to his pals?

I wish that Bush would do like Reagan did when faced with the airline strikers of his day - tell them to get back to work or be replaced.

[kaktuskid]

Are they not getting supplies from Kroger's AZ warehouse? I see a bunch of Ralphs/Food for Less trailers in their lot (it is a non union facility)

[glock rocks]

Oh, now I get the point of the article...Socialized health care is what we need...Like Canada and the UK.

more like a centrally controlled economy... you know, like the soviet union. oh, wait, they're kaput.

[twigs]

one only has to work 20 hours a week to qualify for health benefits

For the sake of accuracy, that's not true. I work 29 3/4 hours a weeks just so that my employer won't have to provide me benefits. But they have to give me pension benefits because I work over 20 hours/week. I assume that this is a federal law and not a state one, but I could be wrong.

[Smogger]

No. California has something like 5 distribution warehouses. I doubt one warehouse in AZ is going to make much of a dent. Especially since it has to supply stores in AZ.

[lindsay]

The unionized Safeway workers went on strike in the city where l live.The strike lasted over a year.Neither side won.The shoppers,myself included shopped for a year at the A&P grocery stores.We liked it much better then Safeway stores.The workers lost a year's wages and Safeways lost many customers that won't go back.