Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - California Union A Grocery Store Clerk Strike:

Peryn · 10-16-2003, 12:09 PM

Well, first off i find it VERY hard to feel sympathy for someone who gets paid entirely too much.$17.50 / hour for an experienced cashier. That is plain and simply excessive. Name another unskilled entry level trade that requires no skill, education or training really and pays that much. First bussiness that comes to mind when i think of entry level and no knowledge/skill required is McDonalds or other fast food. They pay minumum, (somewhere around 6.75-7.00 per hour). Good places that work really hard ALL the time such as In N Out, get payed upwards of $10.00 per hour, and get some minimal benefits. They work 100% harder than a checker any day. That checker is getting payed a few dollars less and hour than , for instance, an RN (nurse) whos been working for 20 years. That nurse holds people lives in her hands, deals with the risks of HIV everyday, and requires extensive schooling, and skill. Is her time, risk, and benefit to society really worth only $5 or so an hour more than the skillset of a checker (basically no skillset to speak of)? Also i hear from people working their during the strike, that the strikers are making $300/week just for striking. Frankly, thats almost as much as they should be making for doing their work.

Also, i get very annoyed by their mindset. I was in line at a grocery store a week or so ago, right before the strike. The checker was talking to a customer in fron of me, and rather loudly asked why anyone would take her job if she striked, and commented on how bad/mean/rude of a person they must be. I found this really made me angry. They are not happy with an entry level position paying twice the market value, so they strike. But they also seem to think that I, the consumer, should stay away from teh store and sacrifice my time, money, and need for food for them. They are asking that i should pay the price because they are not happy. And that if i wanted to take their job, that *I* should sacrifice my family's need, and my ability to make money so that they will have a bargaining advantage. I find it absolutely selfish and rediculous that they EXPECT(!!!) others to pay the price for them because they aren't happy. Arg, it makes me so friggin pissed that other people can be that self-centered.

Again, if they think that they are being treated so unfairly, they could quit their job. But why dont they? Because with their skillset there isn't a job in the world that would hire them for anywhere near the benefits and income they are making now.

Now, most of the people at our local VONS know my family by name, because we are in their so often. A lot of them also dont agree with the strike, but the union requires it else they get fined very heavily. So out of respect for those few, i dont go to that vons. Instead, i head down the road another minute or two to teh Albertsons. I shop their for now, thisway i can protest the strike and voice my objection without hurting those people at my local store (at least not directly).

i also think that unions these days are to the point where they are bullying the parent companies. They are no longer protecting the workers and making fair working conditions a must like they used to. I find that i believe they are abusing the power of striking, and most people dont realise, that they are taking a risk when tehy walk out of their job. You are gambling that you are more valuable to teh company than the replacements they can get hired at a lower cost to the company. you are hoping you cost them more money than they save by not paying you. I think the workers and the unions need to realize this. I think they need to be on strike several weeks and have the union realise that maybe striking isn't the only way to get things done, and that they might not be treated as badly as they think. They need for employees to figure out they are taking a risk, and that to begin to vote against a strike, reserving that action for the most dire of circumstances.

Anyway, thats just my rant. And as i told the striker that asked me why i was shopping their "I'm not going to starve because you dont like your job."

10-16-2003, 12:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
Peryn Junkie Location: San Diego, CA.	Well, first off i find it VERY hard to feel sympathy for someone who gets paid entirely too much.$17.50 / hour for an experienced cashier. That is plain and simply excessive. Name another unskilled entry level trade that requires no skill, education or training really and pays that much. First bussiness that comes to mind when i think of entry level and no knowledge/skill required is McDonalds or other fast food. They pay minumum, (somewhere around 6.75-7.00 per hour). Good places that work really hard ALL the time such as In N Out, get payed upwards of $10.00 per hour, and get some minimal benefits. They work 100% harder than a checker any day. That checker is getting payed a few dollars less and hour than , for instance, an RN (nurse) whos been working for 20 years. That nurse holds people lives in her hands, deals with the risks of HIV everyday, and requires extensive schooling, and skill. Is her time, risk, and benefit to society really worth only $5 or so an hour more than the skillset of a checker (basically no skillset to speak of)? Also i hear from people working their during the strike, that the strikers are making $300/week just for striking. Frankly, thats almost as much as they should be making for doing their work. Also, i get very annoyed by their mindset. I was in line at a grocery store a week or so ago, right before the strike. The checker was talking to a customer in fron of me, and rather loudly asked why anyone would take her job if she striked, and commented on how bad/mean/rude of a person they must be. I found this really made me angry. They are not happy with an entry level position paying twice the market value, so they strike. But they also seem to think that I, the consumer, should stay away from teh store and sacrifice my time, money, and need for food for them. They are asking that i should pay the price because they are not happy. And that if i wanted to take their job, that I should sacrifice my family's need, and my ability to make money so that they will have a bargaining advantage. I find it absolutely selfish and rediculous that they EXPECT(!!!) others to pay the price for them because they aren't happy. Arg, it makes me so friggin pissed that other people can be that self-centered. Again, if they think that they are being treated so unfairly, they could quit their job. But why dont they? Because with their skillset there isn't a job in the world that would hire them for anywhere near the benefits and income they are making now. Now, most of the people at our local VONS know my family by name, because we are in their so often. A lot of them also dont agree with the strike, but the union requires it else they get fined very heavily. So out of respect for those few, i dont go to that vons. Instead, i head down the road another minute or two to teh Albertsons. I shop their for now, thisway i can protest the strike and voice my objection without hurting those people at my local store (at least not directly). i also think that unions these days are to the point where they are bullying the parent companies. They are no longer protecting the workers and making fair working conditions a must like they used to. I find that i believe they are abusing the power of striking, and most people dont realise, that they are taking a risk when tehy walk out of their job. You are gambling that you are more valuable to teh company than the replacements they can get hired at a lower cost to the company. you are hoping you cost them more money than they save by not paying you. I think the workers and the unions need to realize this. I think they need to be on strike several weeks and have the union realise that maybe striking isn't the only way to get things done, and that they might not be treated as badly as they think. They need for employees to figure out they are taking a risk, and that to begin to vote against a strike, reserving that action for the most dire of circumstances. Anyway, thats just my rant. And as i told the striker that asked me why i was shopping their "I'm not going to starve because you dont like your job." __________________ Dont cry kid, It's not your fault you suck.