It's split news on strike front
Ventura Star 3/27/07
Such is the case involving the faculty and administrators in the California State University system. On Sunday, both agreed to a temporary contract extension in hopes of reaching a settlement. If not, rolling walkouts at CSU campuses statewide are likely in April and May.
The two sides have been locked in a nearly two-year dispute over a collective bargaining agreement, split over salaries.
The news is not as encouraging on the grocery-worker front. Contracts covering 65,000 workers at Southern California's three main grocery stores — Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons — are set to expire in April. Despite two extensions in the past month, an agreement remains elusive.
The unions want to scrap the wage system put in place following a bitter strike and lockout in 2003. Union leaders claim the wage agreement has kept most new workers from getting healthcare.
In both instances, there are urgent reasons for meaningful talks to continue.
First off, the rolling walkout at CSUs would impact learning for more than 400,000 students statewide, including those who attend Cal State Channel Islands near Camarillo.
Union leaders say any strike would be designed to minimize the effects on students, but a walkout by CSU faculty at the 23-campus system would force classes to be canceled. And, there's always the possibility the walkouts could be extended through the end of the school year.
On the grocery front, the supermarket chains will lose hundreds of millions of dollars, the state's economy will likely take a big hit and, as the missed paychecks mount, many workers will feel the pinch. Communities will suffer.
We urge negotiators to work diligently toward resolving both these difficult labor issues and to be amenable to the give and take necessary in all contract talks.