Reply #18: Here are the issues -- These workers are fighting health care take-aways [View All]

[Bozita]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20031012-1049-groceryclerks-strike.html


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The companies operate about 900 stores from San Diego to Santa Barbara and control 60 percent of the Southern California market.

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Grocery clerks work a minimum of 24 hours a week, with 70 percent working part-time. They earn, on average, about $15 an hour, said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles and one of the negotiators.

Vons president Tom Keller said the chains' contract proposal does not call for wage reductions and asks employees to pay $5 a week for individual health care coverage and $10 to $15 a week for an entire family.

The union wants the companies to maintain health care plans and provide raises of 50 cents an hour the first year and 45 cents an hour the following two years, Icaza said.

more...

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