Ok Ok Ya kinda gota know bout the AFL-CIO and ILA and unions and strikes and stuff with this On Friday the 13th of Febuary 2004 over 100 community, religous and labor activiists went to purchuse some items at a Safeway Supermarket on Harford Road in Baltimore Maryland and paid for their purchase in pennies. Hundreds and hundreds of pennies this drove the managment up the wall. We discovered that not only could management not count the pennies fast enough to keep the lines moving but they also dont know how to spell. Managment wrote a hastily hand written note that said "customers must pay for their purchase with paper with paper corrency". Counting pennies got to be to much for Safeway managment that they closed down the store, threw the customers out in the street and locked the doors for approximatley three hours on a busy friday afternoon. Managment decided to throw one of their customers in Jail because he dared to pay in U.S tender, it just happend to be pennies, Mike Cirillo answered "We Want Safeway to know that if workers are forced to pay outrageous prices for healthcare benefits, workers may not have pennies to buy their groceries." On saturday, Valentine's Day, about 50 community, religious and labor activists returned to the same Safeway Store and they pledged to keep coming back untill Safeway settels the dispute over healthcare with its workers. Ernie Grecco, President or the Baltimore CLC was given a HERO's welcome after spending night in jail. " All I was trying to do buy my wife a Valentines Day Gift and all I had and all I had was a pocket full of pennies. Safeway threw me in jail because I had pennies in my pocket," said Grecco. When asked if this would keep him off the picket line he said, "HELL NO! I will be here one day longer." Brother Grecco said that he was moved because one of the workers had sent him a Thank you card which stated, "Thank you 4 standing up for me. I truly appreciate what you're doing They Desrve it all. Come again!" Workers at Safeway are barred by their collective bargening agreement from being on the picket line. "The workers dont have a voice right now. That is why we are here. We are the workers' voice," said G.I. Johnson, President, Baltimore NAACP. The Friday and Saturday Actions were ended by shouts of "We'll Be back, We'll be back!" ACORN of Baltimore has adopted the 25th street Safeway Store and They are picketing every day for two hours. Unions and community organizations were: Operating Engineers, Sheetmetal Workers, Citizens for peace, UAW, USWA, All Peoples Congress, SEIU, APWU, ACORN, OPEIU, CWA, Baltimore CLC, GUILD, AFSCME, Labor and Religion, NAACP, CASA, LIUNA, Masters Mates And Pilots union and many more.
go Safeway kick those union bastrds in the rear! basicly they give raise = out of business they dont give raise = chances are not out of business pick one...
explaining= supermarkets work on very small profit margins usually below 8% workers benefits cost a lot of money because premiums went up by about 30-50% in the last couple of years. http://money.cnn.com/MGI/snap/7799N.htm I m guessing safeway margin before this whole incedent was 1.5-3% max and the benefits would put them at negative or close to it profits. Thus unsustainable therefore they either fight it or go out of business right now. the closest comparison i could come up with is Albertsons they are close capitization wise and sales wise they have a 1.74% profit margin (ttm) trailing twelve months. Notice the begining of using the automative checkout technology instead of clerks in some stores yet? It is there being implemented.
Hey, last I heard supermarkets in the UK were making close to 10% margins! Lucky them! (Have I mentioned how they rule the country?)
I have my reasons for "union bastards" and I m sticking to it..... In us the supermarkets are in sever competition vs the WalMart type wholesaler/retailers as well as grocerors & other outlets. So the margins are very very low and the prices are very competitive. Great for consumer very hard for those in that business who want to survive and make healthy profits. A good thing actually.
