Our grocery worker neighbors need our help!

A couple years ago, when this blog was just a glimmer in my eye, I worked at Safeway. And at this particular point in time our contract was up and we nearly went on strike before we came up with a new agreement at the 11th hour. Well now it’s someone else’s turn to fight for a fair contract.

Employees of Albertson’s, Safeway and Fred Meyer (a Northwest/Alaska chain owned by Kroger) in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho — just a short hop over to the West from those of us here in MT — have been fighting for a new, fair contract. Wages for grocery workers in this area, as in the rest of the country, have stagnated over the past few years while the cost of living continues to rise dramatically.

With the current economic crisis in full swing, the employers at these grocery stores are pushing to dip into workers’ pockets in order to shore up their bottom lines without the big shareholders having to feel the pinch themselves. They claim that the only way to save their businesses in the current economic situation is to drive down the quality of life of their workers which, as this former grocery worker and proud member of UFCW Local 4 can tell you, is not a luxurious one as it is.

Fortunately one local grocery store chain, Rosauers, doesn’t think so. Having recently signed a fair contract with their union workers, Rosauers’ CEO was quoted as saying, “we say that we’re a family, and we got to prove we are what we say we are.”

The natural trend in capitalism is for one enterprise to drive down the quality of life of its workers, and the others to follow in order to compete. But could this be reversed? Could we use the exampel of Rosauers to put pressure on Safeway, Albertson’s and Fred Meyer? Only if working people and their allies stand united and send a clear message to the grocery giants: we want our brothers and sisters in the grocery business to make a decent living, too!

You can help. The Grocery Workers United website, run by the UFCW, has a page that gives you info on how you can show solidarity with our comrades in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho: http://ufcwaction.org/campaign/yourgroceryworkers/iesxkserq7b6dni3?

Why EFCA Should be part of Obama’s First 100 Days

The election of Barack Obama to serve as our country’s next President has given hope to organized labor and the class-conscious section of America’s workers that the Employee Free Choice Act, which will make it easier for workers to form unions and increase penalties for union busting, will finally pass into law. But where does Obama actually stand on the issue?

Obama recently told the Washington Post that he agrees with the “basic outlines” of the Employee Free Choice Act and, while he would be willing to listen to input from employers, “…if the business community’s argument against the Employee Free Choice Act is simply that it will make it easier for people to join unions and we think that is damaging to the economy then they probably won’t get too far with me. If their arguments are we think there are more elegant ways of doing this or here are some modifications or tweaks to the general concept that we would like to see.”

I feel that these comments are progressive and welcome. However, the President-elect seems to believe that EFCA should not be a top priority: “…in terms of time table, if we are losing half a million jobs a month then there are no jobs to unionize. So my focus first is on those [other] key economic priority items that I just mentioned.”

America’s workers are waiting for the chance to unionize. Just the other night I was in a shop, where I overheard a conversation between three employees. It wasn’t hard to overhear — they were so worked up they were practically shouting. They all agreed that Unions were “the best thing to ever happen to workers,” that “every worker should be in a union” and that the time was right to organize their shop. I also overheard that the three of them were the only employees of the store, other than the manager. So what was there to stop them from organizing? “As soon as management hears the word ‘Union’, we’re all fired.”

Those are their words, not mine. I couldn’t make this stuff up!

With the Employee Free Choice Act in place, this shop could organize tomorrow. If every employee were willing to do a card check, and have it binding, they would be a union shop without a doubt. Under the current system, they would probably all get fired — that’s the only reason they don’t organize.

When EFCA passes, the working class will have a key legislation on its side, which is in some ways a little bit of socialism in itself. Then we can start working on the underlying causes of our economic crisis. When people have higher wages and better benefits, they can afford to make their house payments — not foreclose. They can afford to buy American-made goods — not sweatshop crap from overseas! We can’t just re-inflate the “bubble”. Without the Employee Free Choice Act, all of our economic stimulus efforts are like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom.

I applaud President-Elect Obama’s pro-labor stance, but I feel that we can’t keep pouring more money into Wall Street without shoring up the foundation of our economy — the working class. Mr. Obama, the Employee Free Choice Act should be priority #1!

Morality and Class Struggle

The basic process that allows the whole capitalist system to function is surplus value. I’m not going to give you a whole lesson on it here, but in a nutshell, the ability of humans to use technology and produce more value in a day’s labor than is required to produce another day’s labor. The difference between the profit your boss makes off your work, and what you’re paid so that you can survive to come to work another day, is the surplus value. Of course, you have no say in how much of this surplus value he keeps and how the rest of it is spent, so in other words you are being exploited for your labor power because you don’t own capital, and that’s how the whole system functions.

Of course, when you use the word “exploited” it raises a big red flag. “My boss?” you might be asking yourself. “Never! He’s a saint!” Well, maybe not that enthusiastically. But a lot of people look up to and admire the people who own the companies they work for, and get offended when you suggest that they are exploiters.

People say, “Look at a guy like So-and-So. He gives all this money to charity, starts foundations to help people, gives back to the community. He’s a good guy. How can you hate him? How can you say he’s an evil man?” To which I would reply that I don’t hate him. I don’t think he’s an evil man. If the guy invited me over to his house I’d drink beer with him, or his fine wine, or whatever the hell a guy like that drinks. It’s nothing personal.

But the hard truth is that capitalists are exploiters, without exception. It doesn’t matter if they’re good people. In fact, in most cases they can’t help but exploit. It’s the only thing that allows them to continue their existence. It’s their job to do it and even if they would like to “exploit less”, they are driven to exploitation in order to stay competitive in their field.

Case in point: when I worked at Safeway here not long ago, we were undergoing contract negotiations and almost went out on strike. The company kept saying, “We have to compete with Wal Mart, and they pay their workers minimum wage and give them some Mickey Mouse benefits. That’s why we have to cut your wages and benefits to keep up.” Was there any truth to this? I don’t know. Safeway used to be a place where a working person could go make an honest living with good wages and benefits so maybe they do have a heart. But regardless of whether or not they’re sincere about treating their workers right, they can’t. It’s true that they can’t afford to pay their workers a living wage and keep up with the sweatshop down the road.

Sometimes you have to feel sorry for some of these people.  Maybe they really want to do the right thing but can’t. Especially people who run the Mom & Pop store. They might treat you OK and maybe they turn around and give all the profit you make for them to the bank, to pay off the loan which keeps the business afloat. But the point is, they are still exploiting you for your surplus value. Does that mean you should slash their tires or something? No (unless they’re assholes of course). But we have to continue to struggle for socialism regardless of whether or not we like our bosses. The fact that they’re nice people doesn’t change the cold, hard truth that capitalism is an unsustainable system built upon exploitation of labor.