UFCW continues to hold the line for health care - Teamsters refuse to cross picket lines

Teamsters refuse to cross picket lines:
UFCW supermarket workers continue to hold the line for health care

Eighty thousand American supermarket workers continue to fight for affordable health care for their families. For more than six weeks, they have been holding the line in defence of the right for working people to live a life in dignity.

The entire trade union movement in the United States is now behind UFCW and its members.

Yesterday, the Teamsters announced that their members will not cross the UFCW picket lines. In today's Los Angeles Times, Teamsters regional president Jim Santangelo said that more than 8,000 transport and distribution centre workers in Southern California would join the supermarket workers' fight. "We either end this thing together or we die together," Santangelo said to the newspaper.

This strike is about more than a collective agreement. It is about the future of the American way of life. The supermarket workers in California and other parts of the United States say no to the walmartization of wages and working conditions, which would force them to join the fast growing number of America's working poor.

Strike spreads across the country

The Southern California supermarket strike is now spreading from coast to coast. Hundreds of Southern California, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, workers set up lines in front of Safeway grocery stores in the Washington, DC area last weekend. They urged customers to use their holiday dollars elsewhere in support of the workers’ fight for affordable health care.

At a Washington, DC rally announcing the pickets, local labor, religious and community leaders joined the workers in calling for solidarity from the people in and around the United States capital.

These developments come as Peter J. Hurtgen, the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), announced yesterday (24.11.) that he has recessed negotiations between UFCW and the three retailers. He did not set a timetable for the resumption of negotiations.

For the last six weeks, UFCW members in large supermarket chains have held the line for affordable health care. The fight is now spreading from Southern California to many other parts of the country.

The Teamsters, who represent distribution centre and transport workers, are now adding their weight to the struggle.

Distribution centre workers stand up in support of strike

With the Teamsters now entering the fight for health care, the UFCW strike gains added momentum. The Teamster decision not to cross the lines will effectively shut down the distribution system that supplies the retail outlets. This will bring increased pressure on the supermarket employers - Safeway (Vons), Albertsons and Kroger (Ralphs) who are already facing strong consumer support for the workers.

The UFCW and Teamster members have a common cause and a common enemy. Supermarket workers are now at the firing line of the huge retail corporations. If they cannot hold the line, the Teamster members in the distribution centres would certainly be next. In the last negotiations, the employers agreed to maintain their health benefits, but their refusal to agree to a similar provision for store employees would spell trouble for the Teamsters in their next round of negotiations.

With the Teamsters now standing up for their colleagues in the supermarkets, pressure mounts on the three retailers. Already now, their losses from the strike and lockout has been estimated to more than half a billion USD. As desperation grows, retailers have started to refurbish their stocks using private cars (PDF), putting food safety at risk. Los Angeles Times reports today that they have also began hiring strike breakers for their distribution centres.

Community organisations speak out

The united front of UFCW and the Teamsters shows the strong solidarity among all American workers in support of the supermarket strike. They are joined by a growing group of women's, religious, student and community organizations. Last weekend, these organisations turned out in Hold the Line for America's Health Care rallies in Oakland and Orange County, California as well as Washington D.C. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney announced that over a quarter of a million dollars has already been raised through the Hold the Line Fund, and that the 13 million member federation would continue to raise funds to provide emergency relief for striking and locked out workers.