Please follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter
I went to Safeway yesterday to pick up my husband’s prescriptions (bronchitis), and there were about five workers striking. Also, the fish and meat departments had no service.
From the Denver Post, "Safeway workers in several Colorado cities entered the third day of labor strikes Tuesday against Safeway and Albertsons over alleged unfair labor practices, with picketing in Grand Junction prompting a temporary store closure. The store at 2901 F Rd., appeared to have roughly 30 workers participating in the strike, according to a video posted on the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7’s Facebook page. Additionally, on Monday night and Tuesday morning, Safeway and Albertsons workers in Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont, Loveland and Colorado Springs have all voted over 95% to authorize a strike."
This has been simmering for a while, as preparation for the ill-fated merger made local Safeway stores take, in some cases, extreme actions to reduce overhead (people, not shrink, lol), and many store workers watched their jobs get automated away pretty quickly.
This was particularly true in the skilled jobs, like meat cutters (butchers), where our local store dramatically reduced hours and cut staffing levels for unionized workers in the meat departments. This season of Safeway impacted my family directly; but back then, the union couldn’t get it together. It seemed anyone with any power back then had dreams of a post-merger panacea.
Then the merger fell through, and things got worse for Safeway employees as the company struggled (and still struggles) to figure out its future.
And, in every striking location, this time the meat cutters are representing.
It’s a bit too late to avoid the iceberg, in my opinion. Safeway — and grocery shopping generally — is transforming, like most industries during this season. You can’t stop progress, and the Big Grocery model was built for a different time.
So, what time is it now?
It could be sensors and self check outs and a lot more robots. It probably will be in many places, but does it have to be... for you?
Dare to dream, but what an excellent opportunity to reclaim your supply chain and find a local butcher, hit the farmers market, shop small business, and reexamine your prioritization of and reliance upon convenience in your purchasing decisions.
We have a country to save.
America First.
Please follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter
