The Art of Negotiations

If you've ever had your retail clerks' union go out on strike, you probably know it's no fun.  The dilemma of whether or not to cross that picket line is a difficult one.  And the union that represents retail clerks typically represents others in your community as well (I remember once when we lived in Missoula discovering that librarians at our public library would also be out.  Who knew?)

Twenty-five years ago was a very different time for us...certainly financially...and to make our budget work I needed to make use of the deep (REALLY DEEP) discounts that Safeway was offering to entice customers into their store.  Though represented by the very same union that was striking, the union had elected to NOT picket at Safeway that year.  So "technically" I wasn't crossing a picket line to shop there.

We were recently faced with the prospect of a strike here and this time my choice was not so hard to make.  Yes, the union had decided that if they went out they would be picketing my local grocer (QFC).

I no longer have to trail blaze a path all over town(s) to shop the best deal.  Instead, I have developed a relationship with my local store which I highly recommend.  While I don't know each employee by name (I should...hmm...maybe time to put that on my resolution list), we do know each other by sight and it's a wonderful relationship.

For instance, last November I was in search of ten turkeys so we could make up boxes for some military families.  The store manager happened to be there that day taking some VIPs through the store.  Seeing and recognizing me he interrupted his meeting with these people in order to ask if I was finding everything I needed.  When I explained what I was looking for, he excused himself from the others, took me directly to the meat section and made sure that the employee arranged for me to pick up the turkeys and sold them to me at cost.  All of which happened because we have frequently seen each other in the store.

There are so many stories like this I could share - each department seems to have employees that have gone out of their way to assist me!  There is absolutely no way I would be able to cross a picket line that affects these people!

Fortunately I don't have to because at the 11th hour, after a lot of serious negotiations, an agreement was reached and my favorite store (nor any others) will be "shut down" due to a strike.  I happy for all involved that a strike was avoided (because it always seems that nobody wins) and particularly pleased that the notices recently posted on store windows indicating the hiring of temporary workers to keep the stores open during a strike are now being taken down.  We're all back to business as normal!

Wow!  Serious negotiations by both parties to avoid a shut down.  Hmm...if only our elected congressmen and senators could have done the same we would have saved something like $24 BILLION!  (Yeah, you read that right.  That's what the estimate is for how much the government shutdown cost us, the taxpayers, because as we all know those "representatives" got paid regardless!  And remember, the "fix" was only a temporary one - we'll be doing this song and dance again in a few months.)

So the lesson to take away from this is simple - negotiating can and does work.  Something we should keep in mind next election.

~later, making my grocery list now, tw