Pictures From Berkeley Bowl Unionization Rally

Thanks for the pictures Z...

Just wanted to clarify a few things from the above pictures.

The black community activist pictured above is none other than Max Anderson(I believe that is his last name), and he is the current chair of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, as well as one of the 56 community activists that are the reason for Berkeley Bowl being at it's current location.

Kriss Worthington, pictured above in the nice button up black shirt, is one of our cherished Berkeley City Council members. He clarified a bit of the history of how Berkeley Bowl came to be in the current location, aka the old Safeway location, and why we luckily don't have a McFrugals there(as former Mayor Dean envisioned). Kriss called on all the people who helped to get Berkeley Bowl in it's current location to reformulate their committee, originally called the Committee for a Full Service Grocery Store, to the Committee for a Unionized Grocery Store.

I could say a lot of other things about the amazing folks at the rally and the things they said, but just to keep it short I will limit myself to one last comment.

The manager on the bottom of this series of pictures is David Craib, the manager of Point of Sales folks and customer service folks. He closes on Sundays usually, and he is actually one of the better liked managers in the store, though he gets treated like shit by some of the other managers and the owners cause he is young. He genereally has a good relationship with employees at the store as he was one of us very recently and still does quite a bit of work on the floor(he does price tags all over the store and stuff like that). It's a good picture of Dave, though I just want to be clear that as far as management goes...He ain't all that bad as the picture seems to kinda make him out. Looks like all he needs is a cigarto round out the stereotype, but all he really wants is a good beer, like most of the workers in the store.

we see how mand of these stupid hippies will shop if bb is unionized, they all be runnung off to costco probably after this ralley!
stupid anericans never learn, my cousin already works at BB and said we will have jobs when strike comes!
good!

Since Berkeley is a very pro-union and pro-cooperateive town, its surprising that there are not more unionized and cooperative stores in Berkeley. San Francisco at least has Rainbow so ....

Berkeley Bowl is currently at least locally owned which is better than Whole Foods (and as a chain Whole Foods has a horrible history of union busting). But, Berkeley does have a chance with Berkeley Bowl to lead by example.

Empowering employees with unions (and even more so with employee owned workplaces) is one step in the long road leading to Democracy. Most people currently spend a large percentage of their waking hours in environments that resemble dictatorships with no freedom of speech, assembly, or even in many cases the right to go to the bathroom when needed. Until people can have a say in the way their workplaces are run, nobody is truely free

I think that calling for union organizing as a way to get closer to "democracy" is ridiculous, and that the post was short-sighted in terms of possible goals for Berkeley workers and the rest of the world.


I don't think that democracy can work (see Florida in the 2000 elections, attempts at democracy in various "3rd world" countries where alienated groups such as the military stage coups because they feel that the existing governments will never serve their interests, etc).

I prefer something more along the lines of:

"Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the Earth." (this is from the Industrial Workers of the World websiste, iww.org)

I think we should look further and dream of a day when we don't have to think of ourselves as "workers." Let's just be "people" and take care of ourselves and our communities on our own time. Forget this "I don't have time to have a garden/take care of my health/eat home-cooked meals/clean the bathroom/have sex/exercise/get enough sleep, etc. because I commute an hour each way, work 8 hours, take an hour lunch break, and by the time I get home it's dark" stuff. Let's live our lives! Let's make our decisions ourselves!

Love and revolution,
Susie

Since Berkeley is a very pro-union and pro-cooperateive town, its surprising that there are not more unionized and cooperative stores in Berkeley.

Berkeley is TOO CHEAP! they will never pay for unions
LIBERALS ARE ONLY GENEROUS WITH THE MONEY OF OTHERS! when it's their dollar they are spending
it's the cheapest place possible!

"Berkeley is TOO CHEAP! they will never pay for unions"

Like buying organic produce at Whole Foods is actually cheap. Berkeley consumers have already shown a great willingness to pay extra for goods produced humanely and/or without chemicals...

Plus Unions dont make things more expensive. In most industries increased employee control provides feedback into problems that management never bothered to look into. Employees know if and why things are not working in the workplace long before management. Unionized workplaces are better run and many of the benefits to the employees are not expensive (ie making a wage scale that is not arbitrary means that raises occur due to how well a worker works not how much certain mangers happen to like them)

first off i don't think a lot of berkeley bowl shoppers or berkeley community members will be running off to costco anytime soon...as hippies, commies, pinkos, whatever you want to call us...we have plenty of better shopping options in berkeley if we have to avoid berkeley bowl in the near future

second...co-ops seem to be expanding once again and if we do it right this time around we may just be able to avoid the pitfalls that we have encountered in the past in berkeley...a lot could be learned it seems from our local bicycle collective, it seems they may have found the missing link .. and a long these lines, unions are a step in the direction of workers owning the means of production... the wobblies still exist in berkeley and are signing union contracts and organizing like other unions... the difference may just be that wobblies(or the IWW)has different long term goals in mind... though i would argue that many of us more mainstream union folks also look towards co-ops and workers eventually owning the means of production too

third ... berkeley folks will pay for grocerys at a union grocery store... they do it all the time at andronicos and safeway ... many berkeleyans even get duped by wholefoods, even though their money isn't passed on to the employees of the store but instead into building a green capitalist empire

i guess this is just to say that we all have a long way to go, but if we just talk about things, agree to disagree at times and work things out for the best of all(as much as possible)...then people can all get a piece of the pie, and we can see other grocery and retail outlets in the area go union too, and maybe even create a co-op along the way

may there be 1,2, 3, many co-ops - upton sinclair
End Poverty in California!!

This is the second attempt at getting a union at the bowl. Years ago the workers tried to form a union and the bowl managed to get the vote reversed by promising better conditions and intimidating the employees who were most pro-union.

I usually shop at the farmer's markets, but I would buy my produce from the bowl if they unionized. Bowl management left a bad taste in my mouth with their anti-union tactics and I haven't shopped there since they busted the union the first time.

Live better, work union!

Long live the progressive left!

unions are a step in the direction of workers owning the means of production... ??


you stupid american, how do you come to think that by sweeping up and emptying the trash you have some sort of authority in a store that was started by some one else?

the owner put up the money
the owner takes the risk
the owner is the first one in and the last one out
the owner has genorusly given you employment

...and you repay him by stabbing him in the back and stealing every thing he has sacrafised for.

(what have you risked? (passing up that job at mc'donalds?) (giving up selling beads at the greatful dead concerts? )

as for your silly claim to pass up costco to shop at union stores..I say HA,HA,HA,HA, (there is no union at the farmers market, you will shop where ever you find cheap prices. americans like you cannot compiete with us. we are going to work for BB and soon you will be out of luck.