"I am convinced that teaching people the basics of our legal system will lead to more community involvement, which will in turn benefit not just the students, but their children and their entire community."
--Amanda DuBois
Civil Survival E-Learning
The California Grocery Workers' Strike
Now we’re going to look into both sides of a grocery workers’ strike. This strike happened in Southern California in the winter of 2004. It affected hundreds of thousands of people. This lesson will help you understand what the issues were on both sides. Some questions ask you to think about how the strike affected people who were not directly involved. If you’re lucky, you’ll never be in a strike, but now you’ll understand more about people who are.
You can also explore the Web yourself. Start by choosing a search engine, then type in “California grocery workers strike.” Try using Web sites of newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times or the San Francisco Chronicle. If you find a good Web site or article, be sure to share it with others doing this activity.
Explore 1. By reading different articles about this issue on the Web, find out how many workers were actually on strike. (1 line)
2. How long did the strike last? What would you have done if the workers where you buy groceries had been on strike? (2 lines)
3. It’s hard to be sure how much business was lost to the grocery store owners during the strike. What estimates can you find in news articles on the Web? Why are they only estimates? (3 lines)
4. What “fringe benefit” was one of the biggest reasons for the strike? (2 lines)
Dig Deeper 1. Imagine that such a grocery strike happened in your neighborhood. Describe how it could affect people who don’t work there or even shop there. (5 lines)
2. In reading about the strike, what was one concern the owners had concerning health-care costs? (4 lines)
3. If you were on strike, what words might you write to carry on the picket sign that you would carry?
4. Let’s say you got a letter from the business owner, explaining what his or her point of view is. Try writing such a letter yourself.
Debate 1. What is another effect of the strike that might last for a long time? (Hint: Most shoppers go to the same place all the time.)
2. Find a Web site or a news article different than those where you got your information. Read about parts of the strike that you hadn’t thought about before. For example, how did the striking workers pay their bills while they weren’t working? Did any of them lose their jobs? How did the union try to help them?
3. Did you find the name of the store Wal-Mart in some of your reading on the Web? What did this chain have to do with the grocery workers’ strike in Southern California?
