“The U.S. has one of the most violent labor histories in the world,” says Judith Stepan-Norris, a research professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, and an expert on the U.S. labor movement.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, workers who struck were at risk of violence from police or even people hired by their employers. When strikes failed, they could lose their jobs or get in line behind replacement workers for a position.
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A lot has changed since then, and over time, uniting in a strike has become a powerful tool for workers to fight for better working conditions. Strikes played a significant role in many of the labor movement’s changes, including an eight-hour workday, writes History.
It’s just like the father of the Japanese short story Ryunosuke Satoro once said: “Individually, we are one drop. Together we are an ocean.”
Unfortunately, though, the need for strikes has not vanished over time, and workers all over the world are facing injustice and inadequate working conditions such as understaffing, poor wages, and minimal health insurance benefits, among others.
As a last resort, when all their options are exhausted, they unite and strike. The latest such effort involves workers at Safeway and Albertsons (ACI) .
On June 15, workers started a limited strike at Safeway/Alberstons locations in four Colorado cities over numerous unfair labor practices.
Image source: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Safeway and Albertsons workers began strike in four Colorado cities
On Sunday, June 15, workers started a limited strike at Safeway/Alberstons locations in four cities.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 explained that the idea behind a limited strike is to allow the public to understand the problems these employees are dealing with, and at the same time, for the employer to realize “the seriousness of the workers’ resolve.”
Related: Albertsons and Kroger workers approve huge supermarket strike
A limited strike aims to minimize the burden on consumers and workers alike, but the union noted it will expand as the strike continues.
The limited locations where the strike began include retail grocery stores in Estes Park, Fountain, and Pueblo, as well as a distribution center in Denver.
“It’s too bad that things have come to this point with Safeway/Albertsons, but the ongoing unfair labor practices, including bad faith bargaining, as well as surveilling and threatening workers, have given us no choice but to strike,” said Monique Trujillo, a Safeway worker from Fountain, Colorado.
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The strike comes following UFCW Local 7’s rejection of the latest offer from the company on June 11, when it also delivered a 72-hour notice that its employees plan to terminate their current contract extension and start a strike.
Understaffed stores, changes to health benefits and low wage increases
On June 15, UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova sent a letter to Safeway saying that its members are tired of “Safeway/Albertsons’ numerous unfair labor practices, including threatening workers, making unilateral changes to the contract, and steadfastly refusing to honor its agreement to provide retroactive wage increases and benefit contributions.”
Cordova went on to say that the union provided the company with many chances to avoid the strike such as withdrawing its proposal and instead fully funding health care benefits, which the company had refused.
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“It has also failed to address the critical understaffing issue in Safeway/Albertsons stores, not to mention continuing to offer wage increases far below competitors here in Colorado and Wyoming. The Company can resolve this dispute, but it has to get serious and come to the table with an offer workers can accept.”
The strike has chances to grow much bigger as workers in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont, and Loveland are preparing to vote on whether to join the Unfair Labor Practice strike.
On June 13, Safeway in Colorado stated that the company “remains committed to productive discussions with WFCW Local 7,” and that its focus continues to be on providing the best service to customers.
The union represents about 7,000 Safeway workers in The Centennial State.
“These are the first wave of the strikes,” Cordova said, as reported by the Colorado Sun. “We have 68 different units here across the state. Safeway has a lot of market share in rural areas, and resort stores in mountain towns.”
If other units join the strike, this could grow into one of the biggest labor actions in Colorado’s history.
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