2003 Southern California Supermarket Strike & Lockout

The lengthy 2003 Southern California supermarket strike attracted substantial attention, in part because of the health insurance issue. Employers pushed for a two-tier wage and benefit plan including limited health care for new hires. The local unions in Southern California of the United Food and Commercial Workers had not had a strike for many years and seemed uncoordinated. The Teamsters - under a separate contract - for a time honored UFCW picket lines but eventually returned to work. There was considerable public support for the strike and business was diverted to nonunion stores and stores that were not part of the strike. Litigation arose due to a mutual assistance pact among the 3 supermarket chains involved and due to use of some returning strikers under false Social Security numbers. Eventually, the union accepted the 2-tier deal. During the next round of negotiations in 2007, the two-tier element was largely removed. Here are 4 news clips during the strike/lockout.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• California
• supermarket-strike
• lockout
• 2003
• health-insurance
• two-tier-plan