Strike was about principle

LOLITA HARPER

The Trojans were not yet the nation’s college football champions. Tom

Brady had not yet held the Super Bowl trophy over his head for a

second time in three years. And Gray Davis was still at the helm of

the state -- albeit on his way out.

It was a Saturday evening in mid-October, the 11th to be exact, when our baggers, butchers, cashiers, bakers and box boys went on

strike from Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons. It was 139 days ago that the

United Food and Commercial Workers walked out, or were locked out, of

their stores because of contract disputes.

Many predicted that Thursday would bring an end to the strike, but

whether the grocery store and union officials found common ground

that evening was irrelevant to those on the picket line at Albertsons

on Coast Highway in Corona del Mar during the day.

“Who knows?” picket Mike Carson said when asked if he expected a

resolution.

Carson was in front of the store, with a handful of other

strikers, as dozens of people drove by, some honking. A few cars

slowed and turned into the Albertsons parking lot, obviously

undaunted by the prospect of crossing a picket line. After 28 years

with Albertsons, Carson has spent the past four and a half months on

Coast Highway, with a sign in his hand.

“Has it been worth it?” I asked the pickets.

“Yes,” the Anaheim resident said. “We didn’t win -- neither side

won -- but we didn’t break. And that’s a moral victory to me.”

Cindy Carlson watched Thanksgiving come and go, as well as

Christmas, while standing on the picket line. She ushered in a New

Year and kissed her valentine, all the while wondering when she could

go back to her job of 18 years.

“I want to go back to work,” she said.

Despite her desire to be working under her managers, instead of

striking against them, Carlson said it was “still worth it.”

“This fight is for all unionized labor,” she said. “We have set

the bar.”

Thankfully, both Carson and Carlson are part of two-income

families and have had the financial support of their spouses to help

shoulder the brunt of the strike. As time wears on, however, things

get a little tighter, they said.

“You use a little more hamburger meat instead of steak,” she said.

“And add a little more hamburger helper.”

Carlson’s children, who are 7 and 11, have come home with school

fundraisers that the mother has simply had to pass on.

“We just can’t do it this time around,” she said. “I hate to say

no but you just have to.”

Carson said he can’t even afford to help his daughter sell Girl

Scout cookies, especially now that the organization raised the cost

from $3 to $4 per box. Carson and Carlson, who both have daughters in

the scouts, used to bring boxes of Dosie-dos and Thin Mints to work,

hoping to peddle them to their colleagues.

“Cindy and I used to buy from each other’s daughters, but now I

wouldn’t even think of bringing them out here,” he said. “At $4 a

box, that would just be an insult.”

Orange Coast College student Jason Anderson was also on the picket

line Thursday, but he was removed from Carson and Carlson, reading a

magazine while sitting in a lawn chair. Although he would not

consider ditching the effort, he said the strike was not worth it for

him personally.

“I don’t have a family and don’t really use the medical benefits,

I just need this job to help me pay for school,” said Anderson, who

had been working at Albertsons since 1998.

Sitting on the picket lines is not really helping him accomplish

that goal. OCC has been in session for three weeks now and he still

hasn’t been able to buy all of his books, he said.

“The money from this job made it possible for me to get my own

place,” the Huntington Beach native said. “Now, I don’t have enough

money and I have to move back in with my dad.”

Despite his sacrifices, he said he will go back to work when the

new contracts are signed.

“I want to come back here,” Anderson said. “I like this store. We

have relationships with most of the people.”

During the interviews with the trio, at least seven customers

walked into Albertsons, but the regulars -- largely those who live in

the direct vicinity -- support the workers and respect the line, they

said.

“This is a corporate community,” Carlson said. “Of course they are

a little less sympathetic to labor but our regulars respect us.”

Carlson continued her look-on-the-bright-side attitude as she

described the benefits of the strike.

“Albertsons always told us we were a family,” she said. “But

really, we have become a family out here. We now know each other’s

kids on a first name basis and really got to know one another. We

have gone through all of this and really bonded.”

Carson gave a nod to increased camaraderie but took a different

approach to the familial metaphor.

“I would never treat a family member like this,” he said.

* LOLITA HARPER is the community forum editor. She also writes

columns Wednesdays and Fridays. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.