Shoppers this weekend at the Westwood Ralphs were met with signs
of “Thin Mint Station” as Girl Scouts attempted to coax
shoppers into purchasing their Samoas ““ a stark contrast to
the upset striking employees who chanted, “Don’t shop
at Ralphs, shop somewhere else!” not too long ago.
After 141 days on strike, Ralphs employees have returned to
work. With shelves fully stocked, employees busily organizing
produce, and every register open, shoppers were ready to have their
grocery needs met, and employees were ready to serve.
Westwood Ralphs store director Mike Quiñonez said all the
original workers are back, while the temporary employees are out of
work and have not currently been scheduled to return until Ralphs
determines it necessary.
But for employees who did have a job to which they could return,
spirits seemed high.
“Everyone’s very happy to be back to work,”
Quiñonez said, adding they are also glad to see customers
return to shop.
Employees agree they are pleased to be working but are not
completely thrilled with what they’re getting from the new
contract.
“I feel we sold out,” said Ralphs employee Carlos
Esparza, who has been working at the Ralphs in Westwood for the
past two years as a courtesy clerk.
Esparza voted against the contract accepted by the
workers’ union that ended the nearly five-month-long strike.
The two-tiered wage system, along with cutbacks in health benefits
and wages, prompted Esparza to vote against the proposed
agreement.
The new contract requests that workers pay for part of their
health insurance premiums, which had previously been paid in full
by the company.
The new contract also sets up a two-tiered wage system, with
lower pay for those workers who were hired after Oct. 5, 2003, when
the old contract expired. The newly hired employees will have to
work longer to get raises and have to pay into health insurance
right away.
“It’s not much of a hiring back, more of a “˜do
you want to come back?'” Esparza said.
Employees noticed that a few workers on strike decided not to
return, opting to move on to supermarkets other than Ralphs.
Ralphs produce clerk José Viascan noted that a friend who
had been working with the company for over 13 years did not
return.
Though glad to return to a job he highly enjoys, Viascan fears
the new wage cutbacks will have a negative effect on his job.
“I’m not going to do the same job another does for
less, it seems illogical to me,” Viascan said in Spanish,
right before turning to assist a shopper.
Other returning workers such as service deli clerk Vanessa
Montoya did so out of necessity.
The health benefits served as an incentive for Montoya. She has
a 5-year-old daughter with asthma and said it’s difficult to
find good benefits. Though she must now pay for medicine and doctor
visits, she said it’s better than having no benefits at
all.
Shoppers seemed pleased to have the employees back, but even
more relieved to see fully stocked shelves and helpful service.
Westwood resident Siddharth Manay returned to Ralphs this
weekend for the first time since the strike ended. Manay recalled
that during the strike, important items such as bread and milk were
out of stock.
“The aisles were three-quarters empty,” said Manay,
loading his shopping cart.
Not only are the shelves full of food, but they’re also
full of discounts. Practically every other product on the shelves
is marked as a Ralphs Club deal.
“It’s definitely cheaper than Whole Foods,”
said fourth-year biochemistry student Ianne Rivera, who shopped
there on occasion during the strike.
Glad to be back and shopping, Rivera especially noticed the
abundance of fresh food.
Rivera had a bad experience during the strike with expired food
on the shelves, and was relieved not to have encountered that
again.
Courtesy clerk Nathan Simmons assisted shoppers in finding
items, and pushed overflowing grocery carts to shoppers’
cars. When asked if the strike was worth it, he shook his head,
replying “No.” Simmons went on strike to support his
fellow employees, but feels no real change occurred.
Workers now sense a “weird” atmosphere within the
store. Mixed feelings exist between those employees who went on
strike and strikebreakers who continued to work.
“That’s not fair. They shouldn’t be
working,” Montoya said.
For now, employees are content to have a job to return to and
hope the next contract proposed will not include any further
cutbacks.
“We lost this battle, but we haven’t lost the war
yet,” Esparza said.