2/16/2004

The LA Times reports on the difficult process of distributing money from the UFCW's hardship fund amongst the thousands of workers who've been striking Vons, Pavilions, and Ralphs supermarkets since October to maintain access to healthcare: If the scene every morning at Local 770's headquarters on Shatto Place is any indication, many of the 14,500 members affected by the strike and lockout haven't been able to find part-time work to supplement their strike pay. By 10 a.m., dozens of people are queued up. Armed with sheaves of unpaid bills, bank statements, rental and lending agreements and stern letters from creditors, they fill the hall decorated with murals depicting the union's history and spill out into an adjacent waiting room. There is little conversation. Some of those waiting have the look of refugees from a disaster who got out with just the clothes on their backs. "They are people leaving the middle class on an express train to who knows where," said Harley Shaiken, a professor of social and cultural studies at UC Berkeley. As of Thursday, Local 770 said it had written 4,000 checks to members' creditors, once running out of the paper and then the ink to print them. Only someone facing eviction or foreclosure has received more than $1,000. You can donate to the UFCW's "Hold the Line for Healthcare" Strike Support Fund here.

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