As some of you may know — there’s been a supermarket strike in the Southern California area. United Food and Commercial Workers unionized workforce from Ralph’s & Albertson’s (Kroger) and Von’s and Pavilion’s (Safeway) — about 70,000 strong walked off (or were locked out) of their Jobs October 11th and 12th of last year.

The major sticking point in the parties negotiations — healthcare. The workers get it for free and the supermarkets want them to pay — $5 a week for an individual — $15 a week for a family.

Just today someone asked me if the strike was still going on. The early days where there was little food available (no deli, ready-made, bakery, or seafood) have long since passed. For a while many folks I know felt like they were living in the former Soviet Union we heard so much about on TV in the 80’s. The aisles were empty — but there were long lines — especially at the independent grocery stores.

Most people I know would call themselves, liberals, progressive or even (gasp!) Democrats — but only person I’ve spoken to in the last three months supported the striking workers.

Everyone I’ve spoken to has crossed the picket lines. Why? Are they anti-union (some, but not all). There are two main reasons. Either they believe that since they have to pay hundreds of dollars of month (and this is only their share) to insure themselves and their families or they have no alternative places to shop.

First — no alternatives. During the first days of the strike the striking union workers were handing out leaflets directing customers to shop at other (non-union) stores. Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Bristol Farms or Costco. For many reasons these weren’t equivalent to a regular grocery chain.

It can basically explained in terms of toilet paper. Trader Joe’s and Whole foods have scratchy 100% recycled toilet paper — no good. Bristol Farms has $5.00 a package toilet paper — too expensive. And Costco — unless you need a hundred rolls of toilet paper — no deal.

The choices are far worse in poorer neighborhoods — it’s whatever chain store you have (if you have one) — or neighborhood shops that are as expensive as Bristol Farms — without the ambience.

Everybody else is stuck on the healthcare costs. Health care has been skyrocketing over the last decade. Rather than deal with the problem head on — unions have tried to negotiate better deals with companies. The people I’ve talked two come down on this in one of two ways. Either, they want to know why aren’t the unions using their considerable lobbying and political influence to work on controlling health care costs — rather than passing them along. Or they want to know why the UCFW workers don’t understand that we’re all being squeezed by healthcare — and they just have to share that burden.

Maybe thirty years ago — maybe even five years ago, this strike might have been successful. But with the specter of Wal*Mart on one side and greedy insurance companies on the other — the strikers may go the way of those air traffic control workers in the early eighties . . . does anyone remember them?

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