Christmas Could Be Bleak : Market Strikers’ Rally Told Progress Is Scant

Tom McCain looked angry when he arrived Saturday at a MacArthur Park rally for striking Southern California supermarket workers. Grabbing a Teamsters’ strike sign, the burly Chino truck driver said he had warned his family to expect a bleak Christmas.

“I’m a Vietnam vet,” McCain said. “I got burned there and I’m getting burned now. I’ve already laid it on my kids that there ain’t gonna be no Christmas this year.”

When the rally ended two hours later, however, McCain’s scowl had turned into a smile and he seemed almost anxious to return to the picket line. As he made his way through the crowd, McCain said he was convinced that patience and unity are the keys to triumph.

With the strike entering its second month, union leaders said they are hoping that rally fever is contagious. Negotiations were continuing on Saturday, but about 600 meat cutters and Teamsters who attended the midday rally were told that the dispute, which involves more than 22,000 workers and seven supermarket chains, could easily last through the holidays.

“Things are about the same,” said Mike Riley, a Teamsters official. “I have no idea of the chances for a settlement. We’re prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.”

The strikers and their families who attended Saturday’s rally seemed to agree. The bitter and sometimes violent strike has taken its toll on their pocketbooks and their morale, but most members of the smaller-than-expected crowd stood up and cheered several speakers and a band that played music from the film “Ghostbusters” and substituted the word “strikebusters.”

“I applaud the meat cutters and (Teamsters) for your great unanimity,” said actor Ed Asner, past president of the Screen Actors Guild. “This is not fun . . . and there are not many moments worth remembering . . . except for the day when your agreement is reached.”

The major issue in the strike, which started Nov 5. is management’s demand for a two-tiered pay system that would offer lower wages to union members hired after the new contract is signed. Market representatives have maintained that the cost cuts are necessary to remain competitive with non-union discount and drug stores. But workers contend that the markets are actually trying to break the unions.