La
Raza provides support to local grocery
strikers
By
Kristen Wooley
On-line Forty-Niner
With
hours of picketing and handing out flyers,
support from Cal State Long Beach group
La Raza proves a benefit to grocery strikers.
"It
brings the morale up to have students here.
Sundays are hard and the turnouts for strikers
are less, so it's great to have more people's
support outside of the union," Mike
Kumashiro, Albertson's employee and picketing
captain, said.
The
La Raza organization on campus originated
in the 1960s as a Chicano movement, with
La Raza standing for "the people,"
but now the group advocates for all communities
concentrating on the working class, Cynthia
Romo, president of La Raza, said.
"Our
group supports the working class,"
Romo said. "We have several members
of La Raza that work or have parents that
work for one of the grocery stores. We are
in college and we have the responsibility
to do this for our community."
The
group has dedicated itself to help picket
every Sunday until the strike is over. We
have the resources and we have made the
time to dedicate to this. We have a large
group of supporters within La Raza, which
means more people out there to promote and
inform, Romo said.
Romo
said the group heard about the strike, then
one member suggested they get involved and
everyone agreed. Not only have they been
standing with the picketers, but they have
also given a few class presentations.
On
a more personal level, Jennie Martinez,
a member of La Raza, was picketing for the
cause but also to support her mother, who
has been a Vons employee for 22 years.
"It
does take a toll on the family. In my case,
my parents are together, but there are a
lot of single parent families out their
on strike and it's a hard time," Martinez
said.
Martinez
also said she has a problem with those people
that are not educated about the situation
and what's really going on and that it's
not about more money, but losing the benefits
and pension that they have been paying into
for so long.
"When
we have people flipping us off or giving
us a thumbs down, it's like, do they even
know what's really going on?" Martinez
said.
Giving
the manager of the Albertson's where Kumashiro
works a stir, he revealed that when around
25 students showed up last Sunday, the manager
started yelling and it seemed to Kumashiro
that the manager was more uneasy than usual.
He went on to say that for 45 minutes while
the students were present, the store was
practically empty and lost a lot of business.
It helps to have more bodies there because
people feel guiltier crossing a bigger crowd
of picketers, Kumashiro said.
Some
days have been hot and long for La Raza
members but their enthusiasm to speak to
and inform incoming shoppers is apparent
to the strikers.
All
in all the student support has given energy
to the strike.
"The
activism of the students is very impressive
and it's pumped me up," Kumashiro said.
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