There is a little rebellion going on here in Colorado with the union workers at Safeway and King Soopers. I am just a customer with no union affiliation who is getting a bang from jacking into the the picket action.

This page is a archive of postings on the subject.


5-25-96

Hi You'uns,

Friday afternoon at about 6:00 at the Rockrimmon Safeway:

I was walking with the union pickets with my sign (I shopped here for
the workers / Customer supports UFCW #7 members). I mangaged to
recruit two more customers who will carry signs. Today, I am making
about 10 signs that I will leave with the umion members at the store
and which they can provide to their friends and family who stop by to
visit while they are there.

I think this will help because I often see people hanging out with the
picketers and this way they show their support in a way that is
visible to the public.

If it works maybe we can do this at other stores.

Anyway, I have noticed that many of the workers are beginning to lose
heart and sometimes their tempers. It would really help moral if every
worker would come out, even for a little while. Of course, if they
don't believe in what their friends are doing then there is no issue,
except that I'm sure they will be happy to enjoy whatever benefits the
union negotiates. It is funny that the strike was voted by a
_majority_ of members, but anly a small percentage of the workers are
actually walking the line. The majority must either have wanted a long
unpaid vacation, or is too lazy to contribute to the cause. Go figure.

Yesterday, two corporate Safeway men came by while I was wearing my
sign, and I told them that there will soon be 5-10 customers walking
with signs and that between the union and the customers, we will empty
the Rockrimmon parking lot. And that that is just the beginning. We
will take it to other stores.

Sound a bit grandiose? I think not. It is a simple idea, but it can
work.

If my boss tried to take away benfits from me, I would hope that my
friends would support me. Well, its my turn. Gotta go make some signs
and call the customers I met yesterday to meet me at the store.

Hang in. See you there!

Dave Therault


6-21-96

Well, I've been too busy to report on my strike activities and
observations for the last few weeks. But I haven't been too busy to
show up at several of the stores on a daily basis and to call in my
ideas to the strike office.

Very interesting, these black-uniformed guard the stores have hired.
These guys look like SWAT cops and can sometimes be menacing. They are
professional strike security that travels around the country. They all
carry videocams and have taped me as I picket and interract with union
workers and customers. I have been warned that my offer to pay people
to shop at Albertsons is harrassment of customers, but when called on
it, the customers have said that I am not harrassing them but only
offering to give them money.

It is interesting that the wealthier customers take the money ($5)
almost every time and the working class folks usually turn it down
(but still go away).

Anyway, the constant videotaping of my presence can be a bit menacing
at times and makes me a little fearful. But, I won't be deterred.

BTW, the only violations of term of engagement for the strike that I
have observed is the two times that I have seen store managers come
out to intimidate the picketers when the picket line was very
organized and having an effect. One time a manager was obviously
trying to draw the picketers into physical confrontation.

Here's my latest idea. The union should organize the picketers to all
go to one store, leaving a crew of one or two at each of the other
stores. This would put well over 100 picketers at the target store. I
don't think that many customers would cross a line like that. They
should hit the same store every day for 4-5 days. This would really
cripple that store. Then they would move on to another store. I think
that this would have more of an effect that just having the 5-10 that
they have at each store. Also, the picketers would see that their
presence has a powerful effect to empty a parking lot. Lord knows they
need a shot in the arm now.

If you can find it in your hearts to get out there and show some
support, please. Even just to get out of your car and offer a kind
word, would be appreciated. I know. You wouldn't believe the love and
kisses (Hersheys) I get from the folks on the line every day. But they
are down. And now that the union is withdrawing financial support
($100 for a 40-hour week on the line and a big fat zero for those who
are collecting unemployment) it is thinning down to just the devoted
ones. I am so surprized at who that is (at Rockrimmon Safeway). It is
the single mothers, who have to work and still find time to get there
to picket. Talk about conviction. It is the young kids, who don't need
to have the principles it takes to stick with it, and who could easily
just forget the cause and get a job somewhere else. Man, I am
impressed!

I should also mention that my wife, Debbie, has been extremely patient
with the long hours I have put in visiting the different stores. God
bless her generous heart.

Shop elsewhere. Come down to visit the pickets. Do it because you
support the workers. Or do it because you honor the strike process. Or
do it because you like a little uprising once in a while. But please
do it.

Some of you on this list of addresses are new to this thread. If any
of you on this list don't want to get my postings just let me know. (I
promise not to bug you too much anyway.) If anyone wants to forward
this to interested parties, please feel free. If anyone wants to
correspond, please feel free.

Thanks for reading.

Dave Therault


What follows is copy of a letter to the editor I posted to the Gazette
and the Independent tonight.



Honor the Strike Process

As a recent transplant from the East Coast, I watch with amazement, as
the citizens of this community continue to shop at Safeway and King
Soopers, ignoring the strike/lockout. Where I come from, when a strike
is called, most people honor the strike process and avoid patronizing
the business in question. It is usually assumed that the decision to
strike, which is made by a majority of the workers, is based on valid
issues, and the public stays away.

The issues which give rise to any strike are complex. Most of us are
not directly involved in the strike and our only source of information
is company ads and union handouts. Is it really possible for us to
have an informed opinion in support of either the union or the
company? When you stay away from the picket line, it doesn't have to
mean that you support the union workers, just that you acknowledge the
strike process. The whole purpose of a strike is to discourage
commerce and to even the playing field, so that the company will feel
the pressure to negotiate. This is a process of balancing power
between workers and employers. It has historically been central to the
mutual growth of business and community, and it requires the
cooperation of the public.

I am not a member of any union and I have no relatives in the union. I
do not doubt that both the company and the union workers have valid
viewpoints. I do, however, stop to visit striking workers everyday. As
a demonstration of support for the strike process, I have even paid
customers to shop elsewhere.

The sooner we empty the Safeway and King Sooper parking lots, the
sooner the negotiations will begin in earnest--and the sooner we can
get back to normal, for the benefit of all.

David Therault
Colorado Springs