Strikers
focus on medical coverage
By
Lauren Nelson
On-line Forty-Niner
Student
workers at Vons, Ralph's and Albertson's
are not only picketing in a protest against
the implementation of a new contract that
will force supermarket employees pay 50
percent of their healthcare, they are picketing
for what they say they think is important:
their co-workers, the rights of the little
man and what they consider to be the basis
of the United States.
The
workers are entering their third week of
striking that began when the union, United
Food and Commercial Workers, went to the
stores and told clerks to shut down their
registers more than two weeks ago. Most
stores immediately closed their doors, not
even allowing customers time to purchase
their groceries.
Many
people are misinformed about the reasons
for the strike, thinking that it is only
over five- and ten-dollar medical co-payments.
Strikers, who have made their careers in
the stores because they were promised adequate
healthcare and union opportunity upon being
hired, are on strike to protest against
the implementation of a new contract that
will make employees pay 50 percent of their
healthcare costs. This would be a 100 percent
increase since workers only have to pay
a small co-payment with the current contract.
Along with the 50 percent, the co-pay will
also be adjustable, meaning that it can
be $60 one time and $80 the next, much higher
than what the original contract allowed.
For
college students, the strike is more about
moral value than healthcare because many
students have healthcare provided through
their college, university or parent's place
of business.
"[The
strike] is important to me, but it's not
that big of a deal because I live at home,"
Cal State Long Beach history major and Vons
employee, Shaun Christmas said. "This
affects the older people more than students
because [Vons] isn't our career."
Though
the striking takes more time out of his
day, he said it is easier than working.
"It's
boring, but it gives me more time for school,"
Christmas said.
It
is important for Christmas to support the
people he works with that depend on Vons
to provide for their family expenses, healthcare
and retirement. He is part of the union
and knows the importance of being a loyal
member.
Mark,
a produce worker at Vons who asked to keep
his last name confidential, has given the
strike priority over his education to stand
up with the union. The full-time Long Beach
City college student, who works two jobs
to pay for school and living, joins his
co-workers at the picket line as often as
possible.
"This
is a bigger issue. It's above education,"
he said. "This whole country is based
on unions. If this goes down, then it all
goes down. Organized labor is the backbone
of the country." He said that without
unions, large corporations would take advantage
of the workers, just as history proves.
Mark
recently had to have crowns put on his teeth,
a process totaling $900. He said that
without the health coverage, he would have
had to use three weeks worth of pay to cover
the dental expenses alone. Mark makes $13
per hour, and is only allowed to work between
24 and 30 hours per week.
"Produce
made me sign a waiver saying that I won't
be allowed to get to full-time status,"
he said. "They want to have a bunch
of people making less. They try to get you
on track to reach forty hours, but they
cut you off like an hour short."
By
doing this he said, and keeping part-time
employees, Vons is able to keep employee
wages to a minimum. Only 20 percent of Vons
employees are full-time workers.
With
the new contract, an average of $100 a week
will be deducted from employee paychecks
to compensate for healthcare. Over a month,
this deduction will equal almost one week's
worth of pay for workers like Mark and Shaun
Christmas. Employees will also be expected
to pay the adjustable co-payment to see
a doctor, but extras, such as shots and
X-rays, will have to be paid out of employees'
pockets. Vision and dental coverage will
not be included. Part-time workers, under
24 hours per week, will not be eligible
for any kind of benefits.
"We
will have the worst insurance if this goes
through," said Eric Teeples, the UFCW
representative and picket leader.
It
is not known when the strike will be over,
but many strikers say the negotiations should
be finalized around December. According
to picketers, Vons can't afford to keep
the strikers through December because the
new temporary employees won't know how to
work the Christmas rushes.
Most
employees say there are no hard feelings
between the strikers and management because
each side knows that the other is only doing
their jobs. However, that is not the case
with the workers that were hired to fill
the temporarily spots of employees. Strikers
say they are upset that they were hired
off of the street without drug screenings
and background checks.
Some
strikers say there is no love lost between
them and management, however, when contacted,
the manager would only confirm that the
temporary workers will have to leave the
company when the strike is over. He refused
to answer any other questions.
Employees
whose usual hourly wage is $17.90 are now
making approximately $7 as picketers.
Students are experiencing more drastic cuts
since they were making about $12 to begin
with. One employee said, "They are
going to starve us back to work."
"When we come back [to work] we won't
have a lot left," Christmas said. "We'll
get a crappy contract and have to settle."
He already has a new job lined up as well
as continuing his education at CSULB, but
when the strike is over, he said he doesn't
know how his co-workers with families to
support are going to make it.
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