Police Make Supermarket Strike-Related Arrest
Officials Say They Have Received Dozens Of Calls About Strike
POSTED: 11:51 a.m. PDT October 15, 2003
UPDATED: 3:11 p.m. PDT October 15, 2003
SAN DIEGO -- Local law-enforcement officials said Wednesday that two strike-related arrests had been made and that they were taking extra measures to keep the peace during the grocery strike.
Discussion: Supermarket Strike
VOTE: Do You Support the Strikers?
In other strike news, the workers got some significant support from the Teamsters, who announced they would not cross picket lines at Von distributions centers systemwide.
A representative for the San Diego police department told NBC 7/39 that an arrest had been made when somebody interfered with an officer in the performance of his duty, and that a citizen's arrest had been made in Spring Valley.
Authorities said that there have been dozens of phone calls made to the police in connection to the strike, some of them alleging acts of vandalism.
A United Food and Commercial Workers spokesman, John Hotaling, said that if any vandalism has occurred, it was not done with the union's approval.
"That's not something we would condone," said Hotaling
Police were called to a Ralph's supermarket in San Marcos Tuesday night to investigate a cut fuel line and deflated tires on a car belonging to a replacement worker.
In other strike news, striking workers allegedly surrounded and threatened a delivery-truck driver at an Albertsons in Lakeside. The driver was reportedly trying to make deliveries late last night.
70,000 grocery clerks from three chains -- Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons -- spent Wednesday, their fourth day on picket lines in Southern and Central California, with no sign of a new contract.
Labor unrest spread across Southern California Wednesday as contract bus drivers walked off their jobs in solidarity with striking transit workers and two courthouses were temporarily shut down when scores of sheriff's deputies called in sick in a separate dispute.
The transit and grocery clerks strikes could deal a blow to the ailing California economy. Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., estimated the transit strike could cost $4 million a day while the toll from the supermarket walkout could reach $6.3 million a day in lost wages.
There was little optimism that the labor disputes would be resolved any time soon. No new contract talks were scheduled.
"Those in both disputes are digging in their heels. And the common thread here is health benefits," Kyser said. "The MTA and grocery strikes will be long ones."
The grocery clerks' strike was forcing consumers to shop elsewhere or cross picket lines at more than 850 supermarkets from San Luis Obispo to San Diego.
The clerks were getting help from Teamsters warehouse workers, tractor-trailer drivers and store janitors who refused to cross picket lines. The chains have coped by bringing in replacement workers and scaling back operating hours.
The UFCW filed a lawsuit Tuesday in against the Albertsons and Ralphs chains, seeking millions in back pay, health care and pension payments.
The locals contend the chains violated a state law against mass layoffs when they locked out workers after Vons employees went on strike.
"They didn't give a 60-day notice. That's tantamount to a mass layoff," said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles.
Calls to Albertsons and Ralphs were not immediately returned Wednesday.
The chains, citing rising health care costs and competitive pressures from other supermarket chains that employ nonunion workers, want the grocery clerks to help pay for their health care coverage.
Discussion: Supermarket StrikeVOTE: Do You Support the Strikers?
In other strike news, the workers got some significant support from the Teamsters, who announced they would not cross picket lines at Von distributions centers systemwide.
A representative for the San Diego police department told NBC 7/39 that an arrest had been made when somebody interfered with an officer in the performance of his duty, and that a citizen's arrest had been made in Spring Valley.
Authorities said that there have been dozens of phone calls made to the police in connection to the strike, some of them alleging acts of vandalism.
A United Food and Commercial Workers spokesman, John Hotaling, said that if any vandalism has occurred, it was not done with the union's approval.
"That's not something we would condone," said Hotaling
Police were called to a Ralph's supermarket in San Marcos Tuesday night to investigate a cut fuel line and deflated tires on a car belonging to a replacement worker.
In other strike news, striking workers allegedly surrounded and threatened a delivery-truck driver at an Albertsons in Lakeside. The driver was reportedly trying to make deliveries late last night.
70,000 grocery clerks from three chains -- Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons -- spent Wednesday, their fourth day on picket lines in Southern and Central California, with no sign of a new contract.
Labor unrest spread across Southern California Wednesday as contract bus drivers walked off their jobs in solidarity with striking transit workers and two courthouses were temporarily shut down when scores of sheriff's deputies called in sick in a separate dispute.
The transit and grocery clerks strikes could deal a blow to the ailing California economy. Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., estimated the transit strike could cost $4 million a day while the toll from the supermarket walkout could reach $6.3 million a day in lost wages.
There was little optimism that the labor disputes would be resolved any time soon. No new contract talks were scheduled.
"Those in both disputes are digging in their heels. And the common thread here is health benefits," Kyser said. "The MTA and grocery strikes will be long ones."
The grocery clerks' strike was forcing consumers to shop elsewhere or cross picket lines at more than 850 supermarkets from San Luis Obispo to San Diego.
The clerks were getting help from Teamsters warehouse workers, tractor-trailer drivers and store janitors who refused to cross picket lines. The chains have coped by bringing in replacement workers and scaling back operating hours.
The UFCW filed a lawsuit Tuesday in against the Albertsons and Ralphs chains, seeking millions in back pay, health care and pension payments.
The locals contend the chains violated a state law against mass layoffs when they locked out workers after Vons employees went on strike.
"They didn't give a 60-day notice. That's tantamount to a mass layoff," said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles.
Calls to Albertsons and Ralphs were not immediately returned Wednesday.
The chains, citing rising health care costs and competitive pressures from other supermarket chains that employ nonunion workers, want the grocery clerks to help pay for their health care coverage.Copyright 2003 by NBCSandiego.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
