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I've heard that if there is a strike, grocery workers might only get as little as $100 per week in strike benefits. Does anyone here know more about that?
I don't think that there will be any sympathy for strikers..that is for sure. This climate is pretty tough on people who have good paying jobs with benefits.
It's looking like the end of high paying grocery jobs with great benefits are over.
How can the union stores compete with Walmart? They'll either have to lower wages or go under.
Most people won't come right out and say it but they just don't want to pay people good wages and benefits for jobs that can be done by highschool students with little experience or in the case of bagging groceries the store I use has a few special needs baggers that do a fine job.
Imagine a teacher with student loans etc. heading home to grade papers and being told they should pay more to shop at a "union store" where the baggers etc. make more money than them. Sorry, in this economy high paying with benefits for a job that isn't particularily dangerous, difficult, dirty etc. isn't going to get any traction with the public.
That grocery chain is screwed and it isn't the fault of walmart, the American people just won't support it.
I've heard that if there is a strike, grocery workers might only get as little as $100 per week in strike benefits. Does anyone here know more about that?
During the last strike years ago, I worked for a store that got a sweetheart deal, meaning that while everyone else was on strike we kept working but agreed to the same deal that the other stores received.
I'm not sure how much the strikers receive in strike benefits but I would imagine that it would be the same as claiming unemployment. However, I have to add that during the last strike, the union needed to temporarily increase union dues from those of us who were working to cover strike benefits for the strikers. The union actually put the temporary increase to a vote with all of the members and of course, those of us who were working were outnumbered by the strikers. So my weekly dues doubled and all I received was more back-breaking work.
I will say that today, I have no sympathy for the union. Don't get me wrong, I still believe that unions are a good thing but labor unions aren't really protecting the worker as they should these days. They have become way too bureaucratic in their day-to-day operations and have forgotten that they exist for the workers. If a worker has an issue with their employer, the best that a worker will hear from their union is "We'll look into it" and nothing gets done about the issue. Of course if all else fails, strike during the bargaining process just to look like you're actually doing something.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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Some of the best customer service that I received at Ralphs was from the temporary employees who were filling in while the regulars were out there striking. It was almost sad when they came back.
Some of the best customer service that I received at Ralphs was from the temporary employees who were filling in while the regulars were out there striking. It was almost sad when they came back.
That's a great point and the reason I won't support the union workers.
Generally, they are worse than just inept and untrained in giving quality customer service. They quickly turn from indifferent to openly hostile when challenged, a point brought home to me since last fall when a certain large chain instituted a new program that gave rise to lots of new issues with customer pricing.
I suddenly found myself in unexpected heated exchanges with people (union grocery workers) with whom I had been on the friendliest terms for years. For years I never had cause to ask anything of them. But when there finally came a time when I did, I got nothing but attitude - time and time again at 2 different local stores.
I buy more and more at Wal-Mart and Target, but their food selection is still pretty limited in my area.
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Sorry, in this economy high paying with benefits for a job that isn't particularily dangerous, difficult, dirty etc. isn't going to get any traction with the public.
