U.S.

Safeway Warehouse Workers Strike

October 19, 2000 / 8:22 AM EDT / AP

Workers at a warehouse that supplies Safeway supermarkets in three states went on strike Wednesday, some blocking trucks and throwing rocks and bottles at replacement workers.

Eight people were injured.

About 1,600 workers demanding higher wages and safer conditions at the warehouse walked out after talks broke down following eight weeks of negotiation.

"We'd rather lose our jobs than continue to work under these conditions," said Antonio Camacho, who has worked for two years loading pallets with groceries. "My back is hurting so bad that I'm having trouble meeting my production standards."

The president of Summit Logistics, which runs the warehouse 65 miles east of San Francisco, vowed there would be no disruption to deliveries. The warehouse serves 245 Safeway stores in California, Nevada and Hawaii.

"Each time we felt we got close to a deal, it's been thrown back in our faces," Summit President Martin Street said. "We will continue to operate the site for as long as it takes."

Union spokesman Danny Beagle said the warehouse has a high accident rate, partly because its production standards are too high. Summit contends the warehouse is safe.

Union members, whose contract with Summit expired last month, voted Saturday to reject the company's final proposal and said they would urge Safeway customers to boycott the company.

The company offered workers a 4.8 percent raise each year for the next five years, in addition to better pension and health benefits; the union is asking for a 20 percent increase. Under the expired contract, warehouse workers earned $11 to $13 an hour.

Police said Wednesday that replacement workers at the warehouse were attacked in their vehicles, a driver was pulled out of his truck, and a security guard videotaping pickets was injured. No arrests had been made.

Earlier in the day, about 300 members of Teamsters Local 439 some carrying picket signs and rallying around a large American flag blocked trucks from leaving the warehouse.

"There's a lot of anger out there," said Danny Beagle, Teamsters Local 439 spokesman. "The union is trying really hard to direct it in the right way, and that's not the right way."