Corporate Greed vs. Human Need
Give up health care benefits, or strike to save coverage for themselves, their families, and future generations of workers? That was the choice confronting 70,000 members of seven UFCW local unions in Southern California. They walked out of Safeway-owned Vons stores at 10:30 p.m. on October 11, forced to fight by supermarket giants demanding wholesale cuts in health benefits that would leave current workers unable to pay for their care, and effectively leave future employees without any health care coverage at all. Hours later, Albertsons and Kroger-owned Ralphs, locked out the remained of the bargaining unit.
The striking and locked-out members belong to San Diego Local 135, Buena Park Local 324, Hollywood Local 770, Camarillo Local 1036, Bloomington Local 1167, Claremont Local 1428, and Santa Monica Local 1442. Even though operating profits for Kroger, Safeway, and Albertsons over the past decade have risen ten times faster than their hourly cost for worker health care in Southern California, the companies insisted on what amounted to a 50 percent cut in medical benefits that would shift almost a billion dollars in health care costs onto employees over the term of the proposed contract.
"I’m fine with paying my fair share for health care coverage," says Angelica Medina who works at Albertsons. "But they are demanding to reduce our benefits while making us pay more. I'm really upset because they know how hard we work, and that we need to support our families."
Company Demands Based on Greed Not Financial Need
Since 1998, the combined profits of these three supermarket giants have jumped 91 percent. It is UFCW members who are making the difference for these companies, producing more profit per worker than ever before. In fact, 39 percent more profit is generated by each worker than in 1998. For their hard work and loyalty—serving the customers, helping build the business, and creating the profit—the supermarket employers have turned their backs on their employees.
To compound their attack on workers, the supermarket giants are lying to workers and the public. They claim they are only asking for employees to pay $5 to $15 a week for health benefits. What they don’t say is that they want to freeze their contributions to the health care fund—which would short-fund the health care plan and leave workers with their benefits slashed in half. They do not say that they want to create second class workers—workers who will never have decent pay or health benefits.
"These companies always say how important the employees are," says Aisha Page, an eight year Albertsons employee. "If we’re so valuable, why are they treating us like this? The CEOs are making millions, but they want to cut costs by taking away from us."
The Health Care Crisis
There is no doubt that the U.S. is in the midst of a health care crisis. Costs are soaring, the number of uninsured Americans now stands at 44 million, and the rate of increase for insurance premiums has been in double digits—on average 11 to 15 percent nationwide—over the last three years.
UFCW members are fully aware of this crisis and willing to share some of the costs. Southern California workers, like their brothers and sisters everywhere, have communicated that willingness to employers at the negotiating table. This genuine attempt to reach a fair agreement has been met, in almost every instance, with a take it or leave it demand by employers to so drastically cut coverage and shift costs to employees that most families would be left with unaffordable costs and little protection.
Lowering Community Living Standards
Under Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway proposals, part-time and future employees will essentially lose health care coverage. Either those workers never qualify for coverage because employer demands would restrict eligibility and limit hours, or the coverage they qualify for will provide very little protection.
Health care cuts in the Southern California contract alone would result in a cost of $700 million a year to area communities. If employees aren’t receiving coverage at work, they will eventually turn to public assistance to attain medical treatment. Generally, people without insurance tend to put off seeking care until illnesses become more serious and treatments—especially emergency room procedures—more costly.
With 3,500 working families losing health care coverage every day, costs are going to continue to mount. Uninsured Americans—the overwhelming majority of them from working families—received $35 billion worth of unpaid care in 2001 with taxpayers eventually force to cover most of that tab. This money
"Let someone else pay," is more and more becoming corporate America’s attitude.
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