Judging from the grim faces of the cashiers, clerks and butchers picketing California supermarkets, you would think we were in a deep economic slump. Golden State grocery workers are on strike for the first time in 25 years, over a plan by Kroger, Safeway and other chains to shift a bigger chunk of the cost of health care to their unionized labor force of some 70,000. Under competitive siege from nonunion superstores like Wal-Mart, whose health packages for hourly workers are stingier, the grocery chains complain that they are paying 50% more on health coverage than they were four years ago. In full-page ads in California newspapers, they proclaim, "We simply cannot pass these costs along to our customers." But passing the medical buck to staff members isn't going over well, either. Norma Perez, 30, picketing with her three kids outside a Ralphs in North Hollywood, says that under the chain's proposed policy, she and her husband would incur an additional $500 or so a month in medical costs-jeopardizing mortgage payments on their house outside Los Angeles or putting the kids' health at risk. "California is already down, and imagine if we all go apply for medical welfare," says the cashier. The supermarkets dispute such dire predictions. As of last week, the two sides were aisles apart on a deal.
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