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Oakland shoppers were surprised to encounter what many thought was only a Southern California phenomenon when they tried to enter one local Safeway Friday and were met by a group of 30 striking workers. 

The workers, all from Southern California, battled rain as they tried to dissuade people from entering the store at Broadway and 51st Street.  

All belonged to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UCFW) and had been walking picket lines for almost five weeks before they boarded a bus and came north as part of what they said was a two-fold strategy meant to increase the geographical areas affected by the strike and to alert and prepare northern California workers—whose contract expires next year—that they could be in for a similar fight. 

Strikers say their biggest concern is a change in the health care package proposed by Safeway, Albertsons and Kroger, who employ the 70,000-plus UFCW members walking the lines. 

Under the current contract, for every hour on the job, the employers pay four dollars into a pool to fund health care coverage. The new management proposal would be cut the payout to $1.35 for new hires—which strikers say would destroy the package. 

Existing employees would still receive four dollars, but they contend that as their hours are reduced as more new hires are made, the balance would shift and then crumble. 

Alexander Winslow, a spokesperson for Safeway, said the move follows industry standards and is not what strikers make it out to be. 

“What we’re doing is simply asking workers to share in their health care costs,” he said.  

According to the UFCW International office, however, the moves would force workers to pay for a much higher portion of the package. For example, employees who currently make $10 co-payments for doctor visits would be forced to pay up to $95 a week to maintain their benefits—an impossibility for many, they say. 

While none of the Oakland employees joined the local picket line, several voiced support for the strikers, who carried signs and chanted slogans such as “Safeway the wrong way” and “Stop the greediest corporation in the world.”  

Aneesah Shelbourne, a checker at the Oakland store, said that even though she makes $19.08 an hour, she works only 24 to 32 a week. A single mother, she says she couldn’t afford the possible $95 additional payments to cover herself and her two daughters.  

“To have [my benefits package] taken away would mean that I would have to get on some kind of aid,” said Shelbourne. 

She says she is afraid of a strike coming to her store but if it happens she said she would support it. “I think it’s worth it,” she said. 

Strikers say they have been walking Southern California picket lines for up to 16 hours a day and they scheduled 12 hours at the Oakland store. 

Additional demonstrations are planned for Safeway stores in cities around the Bay Area including Hayward, San Jose and Castro Valley. 

On Friday, with rain drenching their clothes and sometimes drowning out their chants, they said they were resolute about their fight, saying that—win or lose—they know their fight will be key in determining whether workers across the country will be able to protect their health benefits in the face of strong anti-union campaigns and rising insurance premiums. 

Stephanie Massey led the Friday demonstration. An employee at a Safeway-owned Vons market in Anaheim and a strike captain, Massey—who makes $7.40 an hour—said she’d been willing to come north for the week to protect the health benefits she says are necessary to start the family she and her husband are planning.  

She and her husband—who is out of work with an injury—have been struggling to survive on her salary alone, and she says that without benefits, they couldn’t make a family work.  

“I barely make enough to pay rent,” she said. “Scraping by here is the key word.” 

She says she took the low pay because there are chances to advance in the supermarket industry. Without a benefits package, however, she would have to look for a second job which is difficult at best because of her shifting schedule. 

Shoppers greeted the pickets with mixed reactions outside the store, with some turning away to respect the line and others walking past, ignoring the entire event. 

“I find it very annoying,” was all Oakland resident Joe Bochniak had to say as he rushed off. 

Robert Masolele, also from Oakland, said he felt bad crossing the line, but said he needed groceries.  

“I support these people and I think their demands are reasonable, but I need food on the table,” he said. 

Workers say they’ve chosen to target Safeway stores in particular because CEO Steve Burd formulated the proposed benefits cut.  

“He is the ringleader in a full scale attack on the health benefits of these workers,” said Jill Cashen, media representative for the UFCW. 

According to Cashen, the 30 pickets will eventually return home, but another group will replace them. The cycle, she said, will continue until the fight is over. 

“There is a waiting list of people who want to come up,” said Cashen. “What people up here don’t realize is that this is not a one day thing. We’re not going away.”