Grocery store pickets suffering under heat

Deepa Bharath

Shane Solomon felt the searing rays of the sun pierce through his

baseball cap on Wednesday afternoon.

Many in Southern California felt that sweltering heat over the

last few days. But Solomon and others like him who spent several

hours a day picketing outside the supermarkets, felt its fury.

Solomon was one of the striking supermarket employees who was

holding a sign outside Ralphs on East 17th Street. The workers of

three supermarket chains in Southern California have entered their

11th day of picketing, protesting a contract they say will cut their

health benefits by half.

Solomon said the sun has been merciless ever since the strike

began.

“Most of us are out here at least 40 hours, six to seven days, a

week,” he said. “We’ve just been wearing hats and a lot of sunscreen.

But we’re constantly standing and walking. So the heat does drain

you.”

Vendors and customers have, however, helped by dropping off crates

of water and soda to keep the pack cool and hydrated, Solomon said.

Pickets didn’t expect the heat wave when they started off 10 days

ago, Ralphs employee Kelly Moore said.

“There’s absolutely no shade here,” she said, holding up her sign

to shield her face. “But I feel sad for those picketing inland and in

the desert. We’re lucky at least to have a little bit of that ocean

breeze.”

The unseasonable warmth will linger over the weekend, but the

cool-down will begin shortly afterward, said Noel Isla, a

meteorologist for the National Weather Service in San Diego.

“It was the strong high pressure that was causing all the heat,”

he said. “But it’s already started cooling down a little bit.”

The hottest day this week was Tuesday, when temperatures along the

coast were in the low to mid-80s, Isla said.

Beach attendance was also higher than usual, Newport Beach

Lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer said.

“We occasionally get these spurts of good beach weather during our

off-season, and this last week was an example of that,” he said. “The

surf has been good, too.”

There have been almost 15,000 people on the beach each day since

temperatures began to soar, Bauer said. Usually at this time of year,

less than half that number show up, and it shrinks more if it is

cloudy or raining, he said.

As for the pickets, they say they’ll survive this scorcher.

“It’s OK,” picket Greg Smith said. “This heat’s better than the

heat we get from some of the customers who want to shop here.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.