Middle-class status of workers threatened
| • | Shrinking unions seek revival across the nation |
By Brian Tumulty
Gannett News Service
BAL HARBOUR, Fla. — As supermarkets try to cut costs in the face of competition from Wal-Mart and other discounters, tension is building with union workers who are fighting to maintain their middle-class lifestyle.
Gannett News Service
The leader of the union that recently settled a record 138-day strike against Safeway-owned Vons stores in Southern California says his organization is ready to do battle again.
Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, recently settled a 138-day strike in Southern California.
"We can do some of the same things earlier and better," said Joe Hansen, president of the 1.1 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers union.
The next battle could be as soon as March 27 when contracts covering nearly 29,000 supermarket employees for Safeway as well as Giant stores operated by the Dutch food conglomerate Royal Ahold will expire in the Washington-Baltimore area.
Three contracts already have expired for 20,000 employees at Safeway and Kroger-owned Fry's in Phoenix. Contracts also have expired for 4,000 Kroger employees in Indianapolis and 11,000 employees at Safeway-owned Dominick's in Chicago. Talks are continuing.
Later this year, other supermarket contracts in Cincinnati; Denver; Detroit; Las Vegas; Nashville, Tenn.; and northern California will expire.
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Andrew Wolf, who follows food retailers for BB&T Capital Markets in Richmond, Va., observed, "It's already been the year of the most devastating strike they've ever had."
After an unexpectedly long, 4 1/2-month strike in Southern California, the unions ultimately delayed but did not prevent a two-tier salary and health insurance structure in which new hires will be treated less favorably.
Hansen, 60, who became union head this month, is a former Milwaukee meat cutter. He began his career at National Food in 1962 when he dropped out of college after the first year to get married. His involvement in union organizing stems from a sense of social justice he said he developed from his teachers at the Jesuit-run Marquette High School.
He is taking over the reins of the union at a time when the retail food industry is undergoing major changes.
Supermarket chains such as Safeway, Albertsons and Kroger have provided decent middle-class jobs in cities and towns across the nation.
Officials of Cincinnati-based Kroger boast that their supermarkets commanded a No. 1 or No. 2 market share in 43 of their 52 major markets last year.
At the same time, they warn that Wal-Mart Supercenters have achieved a No. 3 market share or better in 22 areas where Kroger competes.
Hansen said nonunion supermarket discount chains pay lower wages and are putting intense competitive pressure on the unionized supermarket chains.
"Wal-Mart is a creator of people who don't make very much money," Hansen told reporters during the three-day AFL-CIO winter meeting.
"We think, in basic terms, that every employer ought to be forced to pay for healthcare," Hansen said. "There is no union solution. It has to be political."
Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the nation with 1.2 million employees.
"We certainly would not be able to fuel the kind of growth that we anticipate if we were not a desirable employer with competitive wages and benefits," said Christi Gallagher, a spokeswoman for the Bentonville, Ark.-based company.
Gallagher said wages vary from region to region, but added, "We don't pay minimum wage anywhere in the country."
And contrary to organized labor's complaint about a lack of access to healthcare, she said all employees are eligible for health insurance covering 80 percent of their bills with premiums of $15.25 every two weeks for single employees and $66.25 for families.
The average unionized supermarket employee in Southern California earns about $40,000. One published report regarding the new contract said new hires will earn only about $23,000 annually after five years of experience.
The old contract also provided for automatic time-and-a-half pay on Sundays and premium pay for working nights. Even more importantly, the employer paid the entire cost of health insurance and employees had only inexpensive co-pays for doctor visits and prescription drugs.
That will change under the new pact, so that by the third year single parents will pay about $10 a week for health insurance, and families, $15 weekly. New hires will pay more.
The contract covers about 60,000 employees who went on strike last Oct. 11 against Safeway stores operating as Vons and Pavilions or who were locked out a day later at Albertsons and Ralphs stores owned by Kroger.
According to Safeway spokesman Brian Dowling, "We met our objective that we set from the very beginning, to control rapidly rising healthcare costs in a changing competitive marketplace while preserving high-pay, high-benefit jobs."
Kroger spokesman Gary Rhodes was more philosophical.
"No one wins in a strike," Rhodes said. "It was costly to our company and to our employees."
