GEPHARDT VISIT BUOYS GROCERY STORE PICKETERS PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL WALKS LINE IN W. HOLLYWOOD.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer WEST HOLLYWOOD West Hollywood A community of southern California northeast of Beverly Hills. It is mainly residential. Population: 36,600. - Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt joined a raucous rau·cous adj. 1. Rough-sounding and harsh: raucous laughter. 2. Boisterous and disorderly: "the raucous give and take of American democracy" crowd of striking grocery clerks Wednesday at a West Hollywood Pavilions, hailed pickets as ``heroes'' and promised to mandate employer-provided health care if elected. Gephardt, the 14-term congressman from Missouri and former House minority leader who enjoys broad union support, attended the rally with his wife, Jane, as they shuttled between campaign fund-raising meals in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. . The candidate peppered in promises about his potential administration with supportive union cheers as the two-month mark approaches in the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, strike and lockout lockout, intentional closing up of a company, factory, or shop by an employer to prevent employees from working during a strike or labor dispute. The term lockout of 70,000 United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing approximately 1.4 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including agriculture, health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile and members at Vons, Ralphs and Albertson's stores. ``Workers need to make a decent living wage and they need good health-care insurance,'' Gephardt told a crowd of more than 100 striking or locked-out workers from the three supermarket chains. ``When I'm president, we'll pass a plan that says that every employer has to offer employees health care. ``I'm going to be the nominee, and I'm going to beat George Bush,'' he hollered. Picketing continued while UFCW UFCW United Food and Commercial Workers leaders met with supermarket officials at a secret location for a second day to continue federally mediated contract negotiations. The strike, now in its 54th day, began Oct. 11 after the two sides disagreed on proposed pension and health-care plans. Supermarket officials say cuts are necessary because of rising costs and increased competition posed by the impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. arrival of Wal-Mart grocery stores in Southern California, while UFCW leaders say the proposed cuts are too severe. Both sides have been hit hard by the work stoppage stoppage - /sto'p*j/ Extreme lossage that renders something (usually something vital) completely unusable. "The recent system stoppage was caused by a fried transformer." , which is lasting longer than anyone predicted, but Gephardt's arrival in West Hollywood on Wednesday energized the striking workers. ``People know him. They know what he stands for. He supports us, and that's what we need right now,'' said Steve McGirr, liquor manager at the Pavilions where the rally took place. McGirr said his striking colleagues have shown ``really good morale,'' despite the dire circumstances. ``People can't pay their rents, their credit card bills are piling up, but they're still out here. Obviously, our health care is important to us,'' McGirr said. The supermarket employees are being paid weekly $200 stipends by the union for as long as the work stoppage lasts. Gephardt appeared to relish the role of cheerleader: ``Let's go Let's Go may refer to: Television
``This is a big part of Dick's campaign,'' his wife said. If elected, Gephardt says, he will make it mandatory for employers to offer all workers sufficient health care, a move that would alleviate pressure on supermarkets from big-box stores like Wal-Mart. ``If we have a health care plan that gets everybody covered, then Wal-Mart is not going to have a competitive advantage anymore,'' Gephardt said. Nicholas Grudin, (661) 257-5255! nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Presidential hopeful Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., joins strikers at a Pavilions store in West Hollywood on Wednesday. He said big-box stores like Wal-Mart should be forced to provide worker health insurance. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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