Labor strife is not what it used to be

By: JOHN VAN DOORN - staff writer | Saturday, June 30, 2007 8:00 PM PDT ∞

You can't tell a strike by its coverage. Too much goes on in secrecy for anyone to be able to find objective truth in the whirlwind of pickets and shouts in the streets.

Management, if it talks at all, spins its responses to make it appear to be the innocent and practically broke victim of rapacious unions.

Unions, if they talk at all, portray management as unfeeling, unthinking and disgustingly rich.

'Twas always thus, and it certainly was that way in the 2003 lockout, which management called a strike, of employees at the large supermarkets in North County.

That strike got fairly ugly as public-relations practitioners on both sides each hurled charges and epithets at the other, even as cucumbers spoiled in the coolers.

At a distance, flak pitched by flacks seems relatively harmless, even amusing, but up close, where the sneakers meet the bricks, it's neither.

Many old-line customers would not cross picket lines in 2003; the numbers and percentages of such refusals depended upon which side was issuing them. As did the reasons.

"The shoppers are with us," the unions cried, as if each customer had carefully weighed the "issues" against such imperatives as eating and drinking, and found the moral high ground better sustenance than groceries. No doubt some did take the high road.

"The shoppers are intimidated," management often responded, citing example after example of such union intimidation at supermarket doors, where, management intoned, tough guys lingered. At supermarket doors watched by North County Times reporters in 2003, some pickets looked raffish and some looked like wimps, so it seemed to be a wash.

But in at least one instance, at one door to an Albertsons (Woodland and Mission in San Marcos), there was a tough guy, large, swarthy, who seemed to think it his job to frighten customers away.

He talked loudly and gruffly, and put his head in too close.

In one case, this thug was manning the door when a 60-ish woman tried to enter. He blocked her way, asked a few sneering questions ---- the answers to which were none of his business ---- and appeared threatening.

In fear, she did not cross the line. She looked around. And found no help and little sympathy. Even the cops parked in their cruiser nearby seemed altogether disinterested.

Maybe it was a throwback moment. Maybe the lady came from other times in different streets. Maybe the thug had heard of the old days.

It was an odd cameo, somehow seeming out of place in the 21st century. Taking a stand seems somehow quaint. Blocking the way was a bad B movie.

It is a fact that swaggering bullies on picket lines have gone out of style.

For many years in the United States, as we know, strikes were serious and strenuous matters. They contained definite intellectual components, such as sharply debated views on the merits of capitalism itself. They frequently turned violent. Neither side was reluctant to punch somebody in the mouth to emphasize the correctness of his position and the foolishness of the other's.

In those days, the elderly and everybody else not directly involved wisely steered clear. Too many big shots were involved, too much raw power to get exposed to.

There were grand poobahs in those struggles: Reuther, Lewis, Hoffa, to name a few.

Here's a small example of the intense theater of labor strife back then: James R. Hoffa, the head of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, once said to A.H. Raskin, who for 40 years covered labor brilliantly for The New York Times: "Abe, you're going to scratch yourself on your typewriter one day and die of blood poisoning."

Such days are gone, probably forever. Unions have been reduced to a sort of simper on the American scene, with all due respect to those still carrying on, less exuberantly, in the name of the downtrodden worker.

In some ways, a key part of what it once meant to be an American ---- sympathy for the working people, honor to their unions ---- has disappeared. The great theater of "labor strife" threatens to disappear.

Corporations have long since won the day, or have come very close.

Contact columnist John Van Doorn at (760) 739-6647 or jvandoorn@nctimes.com.

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Sandi wrote on Jul 1, 2007 8:21 AM:I was at that Albertons during the labor dispute and I'm pretty sure I knew everyone there. I definitley don't remember a "tough, large, swarthy, thug" intimidating 60 year old women. I noticed that description wasn't in quotation marks in your article. Did you make that up all by yourself, or did you have help from your anti-union, corporate editors?

Bye, bye unions wrote on Jul 1, 2007 11:26 AM:Ironically President Clinton helped to kill the unions by pushing through NAFTA in the 90s. To be competitive on a global scale you have to meet the world's wages. Very sad.

Adios Union wrote on Jul 2, 2007 7:05 AM:I make it a point to go to stores that have union employees picketing. It's not that I am against the workers. It's just that I am against the union. Any time I see someone holding up a stop sign at a construction sight who earns $20 an hour, I just shake my head. It's inflated wages the unions helped to extort from employers that is the real problem. Employees are not entitled to as much benefits as they believe. If they are unhappy with what they are receiving, they are free to work elsewhere. It's all about personal choices. The problem with our society today is that we are all victims and we are entitled to more than what we deserve. There are a lot of people whose work ethics are almost non-existent. It seems that the union is out to protect those who don't need to be protected. Mandatory minimum wage laws and federal occupational health and safety laws make the unions an unnecessary burden on the workers they are supposed to be looking out for.

Karl wrote on Jul 2, 2007 12:15 PM:Adios, I am also not a union guy but where do you see a guy making $20 an hour holding a stop sign? Maybe in San Francisco but not here. The San Diego construction industry is relatively union free.

To Karl wrote on Jul 2, 2007 12:54 PM:Cal Trans

Bill2 wrote on Jul 3, 2007 12:31 PM:I was born many years ago in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania. I have pictures in my files of 10 to 12 year old kids working 12 hours a day picking slate out of the coal for pennies a day. most of them never lived to be 30 years old. The unions were instrumental in establishing safe and humane working conditions. The mine owners certainly did NOT have the best interests of the workers in mind. They, as today, were only interested in the bottom line. The standard attitude was that there are always more workers waiting for the job when someone got killed. Big business wants the unions killed so that they can revert to the conditions of 100 years ago. Unfortunately we will need to lower our wages to compete with China, where most of our jobs that we used to have in this country have gone. You can bet that the salaries of the executives of big business will NOT drop at the same time. We are creating a nation of royalty and serfs.

Yep wrote on Jul 3, 2007 3:57 PM:I agree with Adios Union 7:05AM. Well said. Whether the guy holding the stop sign makes 20 or 15, I don't know but the point is valid. In many cases the unions have inflated wages way beyond what is appropriate for the skill level of the job. In doing so, they have often shot themselves in the foot by causing businesses to lay off workers or even close plants in order to compete with those operating more efficiently. Unions were necessary 100 years ago, but they are now obsolete.

Bill2 wrote on Jul 4, 2007 12:20 AM:Yep says that unions are obsolete - I don't agree entirely with unions. I have been a member of several of them during my working years - usually required to have the job, and I have seen a lot of things that I disagree with, but without them we would not have had a number of improved conditions for workers over the years. When I worked for Convair (later taken over by General Dynamics) we had about a half dozen different unions at the Lindberg Field facility. When one of the unions received a raise, the parking rates went up at the lots near the facility. When the next one received a raise the rates went up again and so on until all of the unions had gotten their increase - one increase for the workers six increases for parking. The parking lot owners attitude was park some where else if you don't like it. Sure if you wanted to walk six miles from where you could park your car. Most business owners doesn't give a damn for the workers.

Outlived Usefulness wrote on Jul 4, 2007 7:41 AM:Unions had a place in history and were needed for a time. However, while the unions were groundbreaking in initiating work standards with regards to overtime, child labor, etc ... the fact is that these issues have been addressed federally in a variety of employment wage & practices laws along with other 'groups' such as OSHA. If you have a complaint you no longer need a union to go to. Simply call the labor board to investigate. I've known both union and non-union workers in a variety of industries and the only ones who thought they were better off with the union were the construction workers. Not because of their wages (their skill levels already dictated higher wages) but because the union helped available projects find workers and vice versa. This could have been accomplished well without a union but, as in most industries they're in, they have been there so long that they've become something that is tolerated in order to avoid the service disruptions that always seem to go along with upgrades.

Brandon wrote on Jul 5, 2007 1:23 PM:John, Unions kill entire states with their socialist mantras and 8-hour minimums (regardless of how many hours actually get worked). Don't believe me - go to Michigan. And the grocery folks aren't even the worst in this state - the teachers' unions has this state by the throat. Prop 98 will bankrupt California. Nearly 60% of the state budget goes to education and we rank 48 out of 50 states for education. Money well spent to keep people quiet with the largest section of the state's lobbyists. Let's face it, John, gone are the days of unions being the little people, it now takes from the little people and then complains it wasn't enough. Union members aren't all the working class heroes they once were. They're capitalists - just like their managers.

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