Big Incentive to Settle Strike
Southern California grocery executives and labor union leaders haven’t been in the same room in more than seven weeks, and their last session, Dec. 19, ended abruptly. But there is so much riding on resolving the strike and lockout, entering its fifth month, that hope over news of renewed talks this week can’t be suppressed.
Shoppers who have had to take sides in order to buy a gallon of milk shouldn’t expect miracles from Peter J. Hurtgen, the federal mediator who helped broker an end to the costly 2002 West Coast port shutdown. Management and the unions must bend, a tall order in a dispute that has national labor implications, is costing both sides dearly and has steeled both parties’ resolve not to blink.
The strike is believed to have cost the Safeway-owned Vons and Pavilions along with the Ralphs and Albertson’s chains hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales since the strike and lockout began Oct. 11. Steve Burd, Safeway chief executive, justifies the steep price as a bargain if the companies can walk away with significantly lower labor costs, particularly for health benefits, as they ready for a fight against big-box superstores. Wall Street seems to agree; last week an industry analyst wrote that “the companies have taken a tough stance throughout the strike and we believe this will continue.” Meanwhile, 70,000 idled workers are struggling to cling to a middle-class existence.
The good news is Hurtgen doesn’t ask labor and management to the table unless he senses a solid opportunity to advance a settlement. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger correctly has tied a resolution to a “willingness to solve the problem.” “I think they’re smart enough to figure out how to solve the problem,” he said. “It’s just, are they willing?”
Both sides have been content largely with posturing, management through hard-nosed statements and labor with marches and rallies. Burd also stunned observers by awarding huge stock grants and options to 11 executives; workers on strike pay were unhappy to learn that some regional union leaders enjoyed salaries over $200,000.
The strike has changed how Southern Californians shop. Some consumers will stick with ethnic markets, upscale groceries and specialty shops discovered during the dispute. Others will never forgive the companies for hurting the lives of the cashiers and baggers who are the public face of the chains.
As the standoff stretches on, Wal-Mart, whose low nonunion labor costs and meager health benefits helped spark the dispute, next month will open its first Southern California Superstore, in La Quinta. The longer the supermarket labor strife lasts, the harder it will be for management and workers to mend fences and work jointly to defend their share of a market about to be reshaped by a big-box juggernaut.
