Shopper’s patience thins

DANETTE GOULET

It’s been nearly two weeks, and the natives are getting restless.

Grocery workers at three major supermarkets went on strike or were

locked out 11 days ago, and what began as an inconvenience to

shoppers unwilling to cross picket lines has become a royal pain.

Lines at other stores are long and competition for items gets

fierce by the end of the day. Deciding what’s for dinner based on

what’s left on store shelves is getting old.

In the first couple days after Vons employees walked and Ralphs

and Albertsons employees were locked out, most of the people I talked

to grumbled a bit but trooped over to Trader Joes or Stater Bros.

(There is a rumor we have a Stater Bros. here in Huntington, although

I’ve never seen it.) And that is the problem. Most grocery stores in

Surf City seem to be Ralphs and Albertsons. Most people I know shop

at one or the other. And let’s face it, most people who shop at

Trader Joes also shop elsewhere because it’s a specialty store. Now,

lines there are long at any odd hour of the day, even with every

register going.

While this may be making the United Food and Commercial Workers

Union strike a success here in Huntington, I’m not sure it’s going to

last. People seem to be getting fed up. At first, even those who

didn’t entirely agree with the grocery workers’ stand avoided

crossing their line. Some people, however, have argued all along that

times are tough on all of us and everyone’s benefits are suffering.

But if union leaders don’t at least return to the table, the shopping

public is going to cross. That is my prediction.

In this second week, I’m starting to hear, “I don’t care, I need

groceries,” or even just, “I don’t care anymore.”

People who initially didn’t cross just because they were taught

never to cross a picket line are at least asking why they shouldn’t.

A big part of it is, we are a busy and impatient society -- we

don’t like to be put out. And so, I think, people will only be put

out for so long. Do you think during the dock workers’ strike that

shopkeepers wouldn’t have crossed the picket line to pull their wares

off those ships if they could have? You bet they would have.

That is not to say these grocery workers are right or wrong --

although it seems to me that less than one day at the negotiating

table was not enough time -- simply that people are losing patience.

Can the union’s demands stand up to the scrutiny of an impatient

public? If the strike were about huge pay cuts or layoffs, shoppers

might stay away. But not wanting to pay into benefits won’t keep

hungry shoppers at bay for long.

* DANETTE GOULET is the city editor. She can be reached at (714)

965-7170 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@latimes.com.