Grocery strike appears over, finally
CNN.Money (Reuters) reports: “Supermarket strike settled; Deal ends strike of nearly five months by 60,000 grocery workers at about 900 California stores.”
Deal is tentative, subject to ratification. A vote could occur Friday or Saturday; interviewed employees are cautious in commenting until they see details.
“Strikes and lockouts are always a battle of last resort. The dispute was long and difficult. Many workers lost their homes. Company shareholders lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Shoppers lost the reliable service of their local grocery clerks. Everyone suffered,” AFL-CIO official Art Pulaski said in a statement. . . .Several industry executives and analysts said this week that the parties sought to reach a deal before the end of the week following persistent calls from major investors, including the largest U.S. public pension fund, The California Public Employee’s Retirement System, or Calpers.
Analysts said the impasse . . . is estimated to have cost more than $1 billion in lost sales. Its duration is likely to make it much harder for the three chains to win back customers who defected to rival stores . . . .
Was it worth it? Who won?
Only time will tell. The stores must restore morale — and maintain it under the potentially divisive two-tier wage scale which is likely part of the deal. They must become (or remain) competitive other than strictly on cost (e.g., perceived quality; service; and value-added services like deli, flowers, delivery), and more efficient in labor utilization (e.g., stepped-up use of self-checkout). Then maybe they can make back their losses in the long term.
As to employees who lost homes, etc., if they feel they got a good deal on health care, that’s quite valuable these days; perhaps they’ll better appreciate what they have in this regard.
