As they near the deadline to negotiate a new contract with their employers, grocery store workers are bashing Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter for a veto that they believe gives grocery stores an unfair advantage in the collective bargaining process.
"Governor Ritter has aligned himself with the big corporations and shown his true colors to all of us workers," said Arylss Carlson, who has worked for Safeway for 29 years and campaigned for Ritter three years ago. "He's betrayed us. He won't get reelected if he's counting on us."
Vetoed Tuesday, House Bill 1170 would have forced employers that choose to lock their workers out to pay them unemployment benefits. In a lockout, an employer bars workers from their jobs during a labor dispute. Colorado's last lockout occurred in 1996 when employees of the King Soopers grocery chain went on strike and workers at Safeway were locked out.
"All of those 17-thousand workers who are going to be unilaterally affected by a lockout aren't going to be able to pay their mortgages, aren't going to be able to put food on the table to feed their families," said Rep. Edward Casso, D-Commerce City, the bill's sponsor. "The competitive balance is totally in favor of the corporations now. The workers, if they come to a contract, they're not going to get a fair contract."
And, in the event a group of workers decides to strike, companies "can lock out their workers at any time now and not have any consequences. That gives them a lot of advantages in these negotiations," Casso said.
Ritter says he vetoed the bill because workers currently embroiled in contract negotiations between grocery store chains after their contract expired May 9 are not out of work and shouldn't be entitled to unemployment benefits.
"The parties to these negotiations have been working hard for several months to try to reach an agreement," Ritter said in a statement released late Tuesday afternoon. " I believe it is ill-advised and counterproductive to enact legislation that materially impacts the relative bargaining position of parties in the midst of ongoing negotiations."
But, that explanation doesn't satisfy the members of Local 7, the state's largest union, most of whom voted for Ritter expecting him to be an advocate for their interests.
"We supported this Governor, we voted for this Governor, and how does he treat us? A slap in the face," said Raelene Middlestadt, a bakery manager at the Safeway in Craig, Colo.
The King Soopers, City Market, Safeway and Albertsons chains are negotiating with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. Safeway workers voted to authorize a strike but agreed to extend their contract on a day-to-day basis until May 30 while negotiations continue.