Don’t blame students who cross picket lines

Harass me if you will, but I have a confession to make.
I’ve been crossing the picket lines. Now before anyone
decides to send me hate mail for being a capitalist pig, allow me
to throw in my two cents.

It’s not that I don’t support labor. I believe
strongly in health care benefits for all. I also have a general
disdain for those corporate fat cats who worry about nothing more
than quarter earnings and the price of company stock. As one union
official told The Los Angles Times, referring to Safeway CEO Steven
Burd,

” … These men and women fighting for their futures
realize the man at the top of their company does not care about
them.”

I honestly believe that.

The thing is, with Southern California’s three major
grocery chains on strike, where else are students supposed to shop?
While I’m sympathetic to the necessity of strikes, groceries
aren’t some luxury item we can simply do away with for the
sake of some grand cause.

Those on strike, especially those in Westwood, should show extra
consideration for the fact that, as students, we don’t have
the time or the money to shop outside of the Village. Additionally,
the alternatives to shopping at Ralphs in Westwood are far and few.
Let us examine our options.

First we have Whole Foods. Sorry, but I can’t afford to
pay an arm and a leg for organic Brie cheese, freshly made in the
green pastures of the French countryside. What I really need is
some cheap Velveeta for my generic brand pasta. On the plus side,
their produce is cheap. However, Whole Foods is a non-union grocer,
so, technically, none of us are supposed to shop there either.

Next on the list is Trader Joe’s. Admittedly, it would be
nice to pick up a few bottles of their Charles Shaw wine ““
“two-buck-chuck,” as it’s affectionately called,
in reference to its price. In addition, for a fairly upscale
grocer, Joe’s prices are pretty reasonable. Unfortunately,
the closest Trader Joe’s is on Westwood and National, which
is quite a distance from the Village, especially for those who
don’t have the luxury of a car. And, like Whole Foods, Trader
Joe’s is non-union. There goes my chance to pick up a case of
red.

Perhaps the closest, proudly unionized option is Gelson’s
at Westfield Century City. But, again, no student is going to make
the trek down Santa Monica Boulevard just so they can waste their
week’s grocery allowance on five measly overpriced items
““ especially when it’d be a whole lot easier and
cheaper just to march on over to Ralphs.

Lastly, besides purchasing dusty cereal boxes off the shelves of
convenience stores such as 7-11, the United Food and Commercial
Worker’s Local 1442 recommends that Bruins shop at Food 4
Less or Pioneer Supermarket. Both stores are unionized, but both
happen to be located far away on Sunset Boulevard. The upside is
that prices at these supermarkets are competitive and probably
markedly less than at Ralphs. However, students with no cars will
have to take the lengthy MTA bus ride all the way up to Sunset.

Wait a minute. The MTA is on strike too.

As you can see, folks, our options are pretty limited. In fact,
we really don’t have any options.

Thus, to the proud union workers of the UFCW: I support your
fight and hope you win against the robber barons who would place
their stock price over your health and the health of your family
members. However, I beseech you not to yell at me and my fellow
students for crossing the uncrossable.

After all, what’s a lowly college student to do without
his Velveeta?

Dang is a third-year political science student. E-mail him
at [email protected].