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# Strike settlement may not equal celebration
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/strike-settlement-may-not-equal-celebration/
- Published: 2004-02-28T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:52:43.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Restless picketers hesitant to declare accord a victory*

*By JAMIE WETHERBE Special to the Daily Press*

Striking grocery store workers could be back to work as early as next week, that is, if they give thumbs up to a newly negotiated contract on Saturday.

Union officials will put it to the picketers this weekend, seeing if they will approve the terms and put a rest to nearly five months of walking the lines.

Some strikers were already in better spirits Friday, now that a resolution to the strike may be within reach, according to Brian Piehl, who’s worked at Ralph’s for about two years.

“There’s definitely a buzz, but no one knows what the buzz is,” he said.

Grocery workers won’t get a glimpse of the contract until they vote, but some of the strikers, like those at the Pavilion’s on Montana Avenue and 11th Street, think the contract will be approved “no matter how bad it is.”

“I’m prepared for disappointment,” said one striker, who asked that his name not be used. “I don’t think that it’s anything to celebrate... It’s like waiting to see how much you lost in a robbery.”

Some picketers agreed that the new contract will likely reduce their health care coverage — the main catalyst for the strike — but returning to work will still be a relief for some.

“It hasn’t been easy financially,” said Audra Goodman, a courtesy clerk at Pavilion’s for four years.

While many are used to earning $130 a day as grocery clerks, most strikers earn just $40 a day — a maximum of $240 a week — on the picket lines, according to officials.

Though the grocery workers and companies may come to an agreement, customers may be greeted with less-than-enthusiastic workers.

“We’ve seen people cross the picket line day-in and day-out,” Goodman said, adding that she may not be inclined to offer the same kind of customer service she did before the strike.

Picketers also said worried about how shoppers will react if the picket lines recede.

“People are more scared to go back to see how customers are going to treat them,” Piehl said.

The strike and lockout have affected more than 50,000 workers and 800 Vons, Ralph’s, Pavilion’s and Albertsons across Southern and Central California — costing the companies millions of dollars in sales a week.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/022804-03_03.jpg)

to the Daily Press Most grocery store strikers are wary of a proposed settlement after five months of picketing, but eager to return to work (Photo: Jamie Wetherbe/Special)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 28, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022804.pdf?ref=smdp.com)