Strike opponents should get the facts before...

Strike opponents should get the facts before complaining

Your Community Forum section Wednesday featured a picture of the

United Food and Commercial Workers union strikers and a letter from

Ann Merritt of Corona del Mar, who suggested the pickets “get over it

and get back to work” on the basis of her perception that “every

hard-working person [she knows] has had their insurance go up some.”

If Merritt had read the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 19, she would

have known that the Safeway Co. -- parent company of Vons -- has been

dealing for years with the results of mismanaged acquisitions it made

across the country and with the aftermath of a 1986 leveraged buyout,

which saddled the company with debt. She would also know that the

union launched the strike to protest the Safeway administration’s

desire to pare workers’ health care and pension benefits, freeze

existing salaries and institute a lower tier of wages for new hires.

All of these elements have been established over the years through

union and company negotiations. Merritt should ask those “people she

knows” if they have union representation.

Also, Safeway’s multi-billion dollar debt, which was manageable

during the 90s, is now a huge burden. Analysts complained that

Safeway paid too dearly for acquisitions such as Dominick’s market,

Randall’s Food Markets Inc. and Genuardi’s Family Market Inc. Also,

Safeway CEO Steve Burd was paid $605 per hour in 2002 and declined to

be interviewed by the Times regarding the current strike.

The issue is not about paying for part of one’s health insurance

coverage. The issue is about a mismanaged company attempting to get

well on the backs of its hourly workers.

CLARE DONOVAN

Costa Mesa

We are more than just someone on a picket line

Please print the following open letter to our customers for all

those ignorant people who think we are on the picket line for a

measly $5-per-week health care fee. They need to know the 70,000

employees are not on the line by choice -- electing to loose more

than seven weeks of pay.

Maybe if they look at us as people, who have truly been there for

them, they might see us as more than just some “unskilled worker,”

such Newport Beach resident Elayne Carver stated in her letter to the

editor.

Please remember that:

I am the one with the picket sign that was almost hit in the

parking lot by someone’s car. I am the one the grocery store chain

locked out of the store from my job and told me not to return until

the contract was settled. I did not leave on my own accord.

I am the one you come to on Thanksgiving and Christmas to ring up

your groceries so you may go home to enjoy the holidays with your

family and seek “good will towards men.” I am the one that smiles at

you every day and listens to your complaints about the cost of living

and the high prices that “they” charge.

I am the one that helps you find those items you just can’t seem

to find. I am the one that opens up an extra check stand to get you

home faster, even though I’m on a break. I am the one that hugs you

when you come through my line, because you just told me your

heartbreaking news of your lost loved one.

I am the one that hasn’t enjoyed a Thanksgiving, Christmas,

Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or the Fourth of July with my

family in years, because “I am there to serve you.” I am the one that

pulls in the grocery carts in the rain. I am the one that you come to

for the special cuts of meat you just have to have to make your meal

perfect. I am the one that works in the middle of the night to fill

the shelves while you sleep.

I am the one that makes those beautiful flower arrangements for

your Valentine.

I am the one that arrives very early to prepare the rolls, the

bread, and meat platters for the funeral or your family event. I am

the one that selects the right watermelon and ripe pineapple for you.

I am the one “they” promised if I give up all my evenings, all my

weekends, and all my holidays with my family, “they” would reward me

with a decent pension and benefit plan, so I won’t need to go on

welfare when I am old. I am the one people yell at and am told to

stop whining and get back to work. I am the one who continues to try

to inform the public of the very, very poor contract language.

I am the one who is desperately trying to raise my family and live

the American Dream. I am the one that is standing on the sidewalk

with my sign asking you to please respect my picket line, because I

thought I earned the right to expect my company to follow through

with its promises. I am the one that appreciates all your support

these last weeks and need you to stay strong in support in the weeks

ahead.

Without you, we lose.

ALLISON SPOUSOS

Costa Mesa