dropdeded 0 #1 October 12, 2003 Went to the grocery store, saw they were on strike. Also saw a lot of people ignoring the picketers. Myself, I shopped elsewhere. I just remember seeing strikers in the late 60's when I was a kid and my Dad saying, "Never cross a picket line." Just curious here. Do you cross, or go elsewhere? dropdeded------------------------------------------ The Dude Abides. - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michele 1 #2 October 12, 2003 Not only will I go elsewhere, I suspected the strike was coming sooner rather than later, and managed to get fairly well stocked on things I'd need...so there won't be a need to go elsewhere (at least anytime soon...). I'd rather go without than cross a picket line. The problem is with me that with the exception of one single market about 25 minutes away, all the rest are Vons, Pavillions (Von's with an attitude), Albertson's, and Ralph's. But it's all good - I'll support those who are on strike - and not cross the line. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
katiebear21 0 #3 October 12, 2003 Never seen one but I guess I'd avoid it... I'm pretty non-confrontational but nature and wouldn't want to get stuck in the middle of something! Katie Get your PMS glass necklace here Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawain 0 #4 October 12, 2003 Cross the moth*rf**ker. Unionized, part-time, employees, paying $0 contributions to benefits and making an average of $15/hour. F*ck-em! Safeway wants these people to contribute $5-15/week toward the benefit expenses. About a $1-2/day. Next time I see grumblings of this kind of strike in a slow-recovery economy, I'll broker my own employee-placement firm and draw from people that want to work, versus those that think it's a right. Vons is not requesting a wage decrease. The union is requesting a $.50/hr raise this year, and $.45/hr the following two-years (this is not undoable avg, about 3.3%, but should be flexible). However, they are also demanding that the fully paid benefits remain. This sense of entitlement has got to be attacked. Part-time employees receiving benefits in the first place is an anomoly itself... Unions are a double-edged sword for workers and the economy. In this case, they are not representing a critical interest of the worker. Vons/Safeway has some cashiers making over $20/hr! WTF?So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright 'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life Make light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sundevil777 93 #5 October 12, 2003 Entitlement philosophy, totally. And if my wife gets a part time job, we're better off if she can get it without benefits so the wage can be higher, but unions don't want that to be possible. There should be a new law. Union officials should get the same strike pay as any of their members get if/when they are on strike.People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QuickDraw 0 #6 October 12, 2003 Never vote conservative, never drink another man's beer, and never..ever cross a picket line. As long as i have to work for a living, i'll obey those principles. -- Hope you don't die. -- I'm fucking winning Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hooked 0 #7 October 12, 2003 I would not cross a picket line, I'd go somewhere else. J -------------------------------------- Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bendywendy 0 #8 October 12, 2003 Depends on the situation. I've worked at companies that employed union workers. Unions were formed for very valid reasons but I've seen greedy, selfish bad things come of them too. I got in trouble twice with the union because all the union workers would take their break at the same time. A customer showed up for a rush pick up order - vital to that customer's business - sorry, we are on break for another half hour you are just going to have to wait. Not one person would take the five minutes to walk over and pick up the box for the customer. So I did. Not supposed to do that - I'm going against union rules. Tough shit about the customer, we are union and if we don't want to get off our butts until our break is over, we don't have to and even though my picking up the box didn't take any money or work away from anyone - it's in the rules that picking the order from the warehouse is a union job. Fortunately, they all liked me so they let it slide both times and the next time it happened one of them actually did it for me. They also don't believe in the best man for the job - it's who was there the longest (who has learned exactly how lazy they can be and can't be fired unless they really screw up bad because they've been there for a few year and are union). Terrible working conditions, really low wages, stuff like that - go ahead strike and I'll support you but for lame stuff and just plain greed - not a chance. Wow, sorry, didn't realize my one little stint working side by side with the union organization left me that irritated. I liked the workers, I just didn't like the politics. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mayhem 0 #9 October 12, 2003 Depends, why the strike? And how bad I need/want whatever is inside. ------------------------------------------------------------ What have you done to make your life better? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QuickDraw 0 #10 October 12, 2003 Quotebut for lame stuff and just plain greed - not a chance. Although i agree with what your saying, i could still not bring myself to cross one, if the situation ever gets to strike action, it usually means all other negotiations have broken down. I would at least try not to put myself in a confrontational situation. -- Hope you don't die. -- I'm fucking winning Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbrown 26 #11 October 12, 2003 I've been on a picket line. I won't cross anyone's. All the smart types who make excuses for crossing are marching us into part time, Walmart type jobs in the new garbage economy. The "service ("serve us") economy. I just miss the days when it was worth not getting your head busted to not cross..... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkpbxman 0 #12 October 12, 2003 Never, ever, ever cross a picket line!!! For anyreason! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lummy 4 #13 October 12, 2003 QuoteVons/Safeway has some cashiers making over $20/hr! WTF? I have a friend that has worked at Safeway for over 20 years. Why shouldn't he earn over $20 an hour?I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miked10270 0 #14 October 12, 2003 While I'm a good socialist (the whole "The workers flag is deepest red" & "United forever if friendship and labour") I had to vote "Depends". A picket line is a demonstration. Surely you should talk to the picketers and then make at least a semi-informed choice... Either to cross, not cross, contribute to their strike fund, or not... The truth is that frivolous strikes and picketing HAS at times made the lot of a workforce as a whole worse on occasion. My point is that you should not blindly refuse to cross a picket line, there are exceptions to the general rule. Mike. Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable. Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawain 0 #15 October 12, 2003 QuoteQuoteVons/Safeway has some cashiers making over $20/hr! WTF? I have a friend that has worked at Safeway for over 20 years. Why shouldn't he earn over $20 an hour? I have two answers to that question: 1) 20 years service with any company or enterprise does not, and should not guarantee anything. 2) I wasn't saying there are no jobs at Safeway/Vons that aren't worth that wage, I am saying a cashier's job is not worth $20+/hr. "Yeah, I work 24 hours per week, get full benefits and scan vegetables...man I'm beat." 70% of Safeway/Vons employees are part-time, paying nothing for benefits. The average wage is somewhere between $15 and $17.50 per hour (depending on news source, AP say $15, CNN says $17.50). To have an average that high, with an employee base of over 170,000 people, means there are parasites placing unwarranted pressure on the system and company. In the current slow growth recovery, facing some deflationary factors, this union should be working to ensure the simple continuation of employment, let alone 3% raises, year over year plus no contributory benefit programs. If I were Steven Burd, I would be looking heavily at the job market, available labor, and the Wal-Mart model very carefully and be ready to throw those numbers in the face of the union reps and the stockholders (who have seen their stock prices fall by more than 50% since January 2001). Personally, I think the union has bit off more than it can chew and either the membership is going to break its own line (last strike lasted less than a week) or it may have negotiated itself out of a job.So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright 'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life Make light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KenKnight 0 #16 October 12, 2003 Not only would I cross it, if they were hiring replacements and I needed a job I'd hire on in a heartbeat. I guess I'm too much of an individual for the whole union/mob mentality._______________ D28695 PoPs #9237 "Mix ignorance with arrogance at low altitude and the results are almost guaranteed to be spectacular" — Bruce Landsberg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimbo 0 #17 October 12, 2003 QuoteUnion officials should get the same strike pay as any of their members get if/when they are on strike. That's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. - Jim"Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #18 October 12, 2003 When I worked for a fruit juice processing company, the union officials were being paid off by the company. I never could stand those bas****s. They betrayed the trust that was the whole basis of their job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimbo 0 #19 October 12, 2003 QuoteThey betrayed the trust that was the whole basis of their job. No way! Union officials betraying trust? Looking out for someone other than the workers? You're lying. Liar! Liar! Yeah, fuck 'em. Seems like today that the unions are more interesed in making sure a few workers can work for an inflated wage than they are ensuring work for everyone at a fair wage. Fuck 'em, I say. - Jim"Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobsled92 0 #20 October 12, 2003 In the current slow growth recovery, facing some deflationary factors, this union should be working to ensure the simple continuation of employment, __________________________________________________ You and I both worked hard at the same Co. I wanted a transfer *and just to keep my job, nothing more. I'm CWA. and you were not. The Co. targeted ALL jobs and "Ledged" many to bail out.(I'm happy for you being out of the rat race) The Union is what kept me employed and my Family with a home. UNIONS DO NOT shield us form harm but, keep us with insurance. My shoulder is now torn out, on the job, and the "Co. Doctor" juices me with steriods and I work every day without repair(17 weeks now) Talk to strikers and if you hear it's over Raises then it's greed. All other reasons=your are harming families not Tattoed/lazy/movie characters. ****** "We" Techs, didn't go on strike and they tried to punish you. I think that was also evil. (They wanted Assc. vs. non-Union Emp....that's not what we chose)_______________________________ If I could be a Super Hero, I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year. http://www.hangout.no/speednews/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bendywendy 0 #21 October 12, 2003 is the job worth $20 an hour or does he want $20 an hour because he's such a loyal employee? you can't pay someone three times the going rate just because you like them unless you are profiting enough to do so and in that case you are ripping off me - the consumer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobsled92 0 #22 October 12, 2003 Quote QuoteUnion officials should get the same strike pay as any of their members get if/when they are on strike. That's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. - Jim I agree to that. I am NOT "strike happy". 'just "that's the Law!"-happy and laws should be enforced. NO ONE! is above the Law._______________________________ If I could be a Super Hero, I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year. http://www.hangout.no/speednews/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canuck278 0 #23 October 12, 2003 Cross the damn thing....I never agreed with most strikes....it reminds me of a bunch of 3 year olds trying to threaten parents with holding thier breath to get what they want Steve Therapy is expensive, popping bubble wrap is cheap. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kai2k1 0 #24 October 12, 2003 They're on strike here also (St. Louis area). I wont cross. I was raised in a union household and these beliefs carried over with me into adulthood. There's no truer sense of flying than sky diving," Scott Cowan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydiverRick 0 #25 October 12, 2003 Quote Went to the grocery store, saw they were on strike. Also saw a lot of people ignoring the picketers. Myself, I shopped elsewhere. I just remember seeing strikers in the late 60's when I was a kid and my Dad saying, "Never cross a picket line." Just curious here. Do you cross, or go elsewhere? dropdeded If the strikers are successful the price of your groceries will go probably go up to cover the additional expenses. I don't think that the strikers have your best interests at heart. never pull low......unless you are Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
