SoCal Grocery Worker Strike History & Analysis

by Imcista Friday, Oct. 01, 2004 at 4:37 AM

As grocery workers in northern California prepare to enter their contract negotiations, the sf bay area indymedia labor page offers a critical look at the UFCW strategy and workers' experiences during the southern California grocery worker strike and lockout.

“A Strike By Any Other Name”

The 70,000 southern California grocery workers' strike last winter was the largest action in the labor movement in almost a decade. Grocery workers were on strike and locked out for nearly five months over demands for huge cuts in pay and benefits from their employers. Despite the workers' determination, they returned to work with a concessionary contract that gave Safeway, Kroger, and Albertsons much of what they wanted. Grocery executives claimed the cuts were needed to compete with non-union Wal-Mart. The attached pieces give a history of what happened while looking critically at the strategies employed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Why did workers lose so much?
Audio Documentary of SoCal Grocery Worker Strike
Article

Original: SoCal Grocery Worker Strike History & Analysis