Update On Grocery Strike From Santa Cruz and LA

1/3/2004
Local Pressure on Safeway Continues

Support continues for Southern California's unionized grocery checkers. In solidarity with 70,000 strikers' families, the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council (MBCLC) launched ongoing picket actions at Safeway stores in every community on the Central Coast. Picket actions were held on Saturday January 3 at Safeway stores in King City, Salinas, Monterey/Seaside, and Santa Cruz.

While people were leafletting in front of the entrance to the Safeway on the westside of Santa Cruz a Safeway employee, who was monitoring the action, asked an independent reporter not to take any pictures. When the reporter snapped one the employee went inside and got the store manager who again aked that the reporter not photograph or use the photos already taken. She insisted that they call Alexander Winslow, the public relations officer, at 925-467-2057 instead.

Some customers decided not to shop at Safeway on Saturday after learning about the labor dispute. Apparently the pickets and the coverage of them is having enough of an effect to make Safeway want to silence the truth about the health care situation.
[Read more: contains several pictures of the picket]
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/6908/index.php

1/2/2004
Totally under reported in the mainstream media. An estimated 10,000 marched down Olympic Blvd to rally at the pavilions in Beverly Hills.
[warning, link contains large format pictures that will take awhile to load]
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2004/01/99292.php