Staying behind a picket fence

Friday’s Daily Pilot article about the possible end of the

supermarket strike sounded no good notes to anyone’s ears. The

supermarket companies lost -- and will continue to lose -- billions

of dollars due to lost customers and then trying to woo them back

with deep discounts and promotions.

Current employees -- at least those that were able to ride out the

lockout and the running out of union strike benefits and fed their

families on reduced or eliminated incomes -- claimed a “moral

victory” by just eeking out survival for the duration of the lock

out. Remember, most of these people were not on strike, they were

locked out.

OK, so this whole thing is over. Most likely there will be a

two-tiered pay and benefit system, where new employees will get paid

less and receive fewer benefits. At least old-time employees will

have what they signed up for when these supermarket companies hired

them by mutual consent.

I tried not to cross the picket lines out of respect for those

employees that were locked out. So, I decided to shop elsewhere and I

was astonished to find out that the large supermarket chains are

total rip-offs. First of all, the quality of produce at most

Pavilions and Ralphs is terrible, but I never shopped elsewhere to

compare. I found that the Growers Direct market on 17th Street in

Costa Mesa has produce that was twice as fresh and a quarter of the

price. Not only that, but even the milk was substantially lower in

price. After shopping in this place, I felt I had been raped for

years by Vons and Pavilions. Other places that I have recently

shopped also reinforced this idea. The perceived inconvenience by the

supermarket’s “job actions” turned out to be a blessing in disguise,

for I found lower prices and higher quality.

Thanks to the supermarkets, and their attempt to cover their bad,

past investments by using Wal-Mart as an excuse for screwing their

employees, I have found alternatives to these overpriced and

price-fixing chains. And I thank the management of these chains for

opening my eyes to how bad they are, and how many good alternatives

there are to the large supermarket chains. Thanks guys.

So, I, for one, will not be going back to Pavilions or Ralphs like

I used to in the past. Not only did these supermarket chains try to

screw their employees but now I realize how they have been screwing

me for years.

PAUL JAMES BALDWIN

Newport Beach