Picketers

Ryan Carter Santa did not stop at the picket lines this year, but with a little help from colleagues and special friends, striking and locked-out supermarket workers are making the best of the holiday season. "It doesn't feel like Christmas this year," said Chris Imamura, a produce clerk at a Ralphs store on San Fernando Boulevard in Burbank. "It's just another day." Imamura and others picketing outside of the Albertsons on Glenoaks Boulevard each pitched in a few dollars for their Christmas Eve party, which included their picket signs, a few large pizzas and a salad.

Scorching heat did not stop them. Dwindling afternoon attendance did not discourage them. And the corporate stronghold that is Home Depot did not scare them. Members of the No Home Depot Campaign protested all day Wednesday on Foothill Boulevard, at the site of a vacant, old Kmart building, which could become the site of a new Home Depot store. They cited increased traffic and the potential for a Home Depot's harmful effects on the Crescenta Valley's hardware stores as some of their main concerns.

Ryan Carter Picketing Vons employees stood in front of the supermarket at the corner of Los Feliz Road and Central Avenue on Thursday, minus the once-boisterous calls to not shop at the store. But when a group of several members of the California School Employees Assn. showed up, smiles appeared on the serious faces. The 20 members of the local chapter of the school employees' group were there to join the picketers. The employees have been picketing outside Vons, Albertsons and Ralphs grocery stores since Oct. 11. The supermarket operators and the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents the 70,000 striking and locked-out employees, have been at odds over a contract proposal to reduce workers' medical benefits and lower salaries for new hires.

Robert Chacon Glendale Police had arrested two striking members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union by Tuesday, and responded to more than 25 calls from shoppers claiming they were harassed by picketers. The phone calls began Sunday, police spokeswoman Officer Leticia Chang said. Police arrested Manuel Piggue, 43, of Los Angeles on suspicion of vandalizing an Albertsons delivery truck Sunday. The alleged incident occurred at the store at 1855 W. Glenoaks Blvd.

Police continue to work with United Food and Commercial Workers of America to try to curb the number of calls for service at local supermarkets where strikers are picketing. Since a strike was announced late Saturday over a dispute regarding medical benefits, workers with Pavilions, Vons, Albertsons and Ralphs have kept a constant presence in supermarket driveways and entrances. Interactions with supermarket officials and customers crossing picket lines have resulted in police calls alleging harassment, vandalism and blocking delivery trucks, which causes traffic congestion.

Green articles of clothing could be spotted all over as The Irish Center of Southern California celebrated St. Patrick's Day Saturday with an evening of wining, dining and dance. Everything seemed to be in order for the group's 13th annual Dinner Dance, except for the location, which had been moved from the Hilton Glendale to the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club to avoid the threat of picketers at the event. "We came to realize there will be picketers and demonstrators," said Mary Flynn, vice-president of the center.

Robert Chacon Dozens of striking and locked-out supermarket workers attended a rally Sunday at Vons on Foothill Boulevard, where state Sen. Jack Scott (D-Glendale) and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) delivered words of encouragement and support. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 is in its seventh week of a strike against the three major supermarket chains, which are asking for workers to take cuts in health benefits and salaries. Talks between the union and the supermarket chains resumed over the weekend.

When guests complained about problems with heat lamps at the Skyline Lounge at the Glendale Hilton, bartender Angela Reid went to her manager to tell him about the situation. Instead of finding a solution to the problem, the manager told her, "You don't want to be labeled as a complainer,'" Reid said. It was a frustrating moment for Reid, who was upset that management was not receptive to her concern. That is the type of environment that Reid and hundreds of workers and supporters protested Thursday by picketing and marching around the Glendale Hilton.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — Workers at the Hilton Glendale on Wednesday signed a groundbreaking, five-year union contract with hotel managers two years after calling for a community boycott to bring attention to their cause. The contract includes provisions for safety conditions, wage increases, job security, pension plans and healthcare for employee family members, said Paulina Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Unite Here, the union that brokered the agreement. “It’s a first-time contract, and for being that, it’s really, really good,” she said.

DAVID SILVA I confess to feeling conflicted over the ongoing supermarket strike. On the one hand, I want to be supportive of the grocery clerks, for whom I feel the same deep affection I feel for anyone who feeds me on a regular basis. On the other hand, I'm really missing my fresh produce. When the strike hit, I knew it would mean some inconvenience on my part, but I vowed to tough it out. The first couple of days found me leaning on my horn in support whenever I drove past the picketers.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — Workers at the Hilton Glendale on Wednesday signed a groundbreaking, five-year union contract with hotel managers two years after calling for a community boycott to bring attention to their cause. The contract includes provisions for safety conditions, wage increases, job security, pension plans and healthcare for employee family members, said Paulina Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Unite Here, the union that brokered the agreement. “It’s a first-time contract, and for being that, it’s really, really good,” she said.

BURBANK — Politics collided with Hollywood as Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards joined striking writers on the picket lines Friday in front of NBC studios. “We want to make sure everyone in the union has a fair chance,” he said to 600 picket-waving strikers and supporters. “Your brothers and sisters across all unions are in unison with you. “Unions are the only way to ensure that huge corporate conglomerates don’t take over America.

Despite a $10.9-million jury award against him this week for picketing at a funeral of a soldier who died in Iraq, Pastor Fred Phelps and his church in Kansas will reportedly not be deterred from picketing military funerals with anti-gay slogans — claiming that deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are God’s punishment for homosexuality. They hold up signs that say things like “God hates fags,” which Phelps says is a way to continue his struggle against what he and his followers say is an immoral lifestyle.

DOWNTOWN — A small cadre of Hilton Glendale workers and union organizers marked the two-year anniversary of a push by many of the hotel’s workers to unionize by picketing in front of Glendale-based Nestle USA on Wednesday to seek support for an ongoing, union-backed boycott of the hotel. The group of about 15 gathered on the sidewalk outside Nestle USA’s Brand Boulevard headquarters, a short walk for the workers from the Hilton Glendale across the street, calling on the company to “be a good neighbor” and sever ties with the hotel until the labor dispute is resolved.

DOWNTOWN GLENDALE — More than a dozen picketers demonstrated outside the Glendale Galleria on Friday to protest what they say are unfair labor practices endorsed by the owner of the mall. The protest came after the Service Employees International Union, which represents 1.9 million workers across the country, filed a complaint Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging unfair labor practices against General Growth Properties Inc., which owns the Galleria.

SOUTHWEST GLENDALE — More than a dozen nurses picketed Thursday evening in front of Glendale Memorial Hospital in a bid to pressure administrators to reach a contract deal. "They keep stalling and stalling," said Pierre Ungaro, a registered nurse at the hospital and contract negotiator for the California Nurses Assn. — which called for the picket line. If negotiations break down Aug. 8, the date to which the hospital's parent organization extended contract negotiations, Ungaro said the nurses association would "very likely" vote for a strike.

MONTROSE ? Standing under an American flag with a peace sign in hand, Roberta Medford has been shouted at, told to "go home," and been shown the occasional middle finger since she started the Montrose Peace Protest against the war in Iraq in February 2006. But usually, the people in cars that drive by Medford and her fellow protesters at the corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue in the Montrose Shopping Park, at the site of the Montrose Vietnam War Memorial, are supportive, she says.

Green articles of clothing could be spotted all over as The Irish Center of Southern California celebrated St. Patrick's Day Saturday with an evening of wining, dining and dance. Everything seemed to be in order for the group's 13th annual Dinner Dance, except for the location, which had been moved from the Hilton Glendale to the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club to avoid the threat of picketers at the event. "We came to realize there will be picketers and demonstrators," said Mary Flynn, vice-president of the center.

GLENDALE — Inside, people wined and dined. Outside, it was protests and picket lines. Hilton Glendale employees, who have been calling for a boycott on the hotel for the past year, hosted a holiday dinner for more than 150 supporters outside the hotel Thursday night. At the same time, inside the hotel, the city of Glendale held its annual holiday dinner for city employees. "We feel that city hall doesn't care," said Violeta Real, 31, who is a Hilton Glendale night cleaner and lobby attendant.

When guests complained about problems with heat lamps at the Skyline Lounge at the Glendale Hilton, bartender Angela Reid went to her manager to tell him about the situation. Instead of finding a solution to the problem, the manager told her, "You don't want to be labeled as a complainer,'" Reid said. It was a frustrating moment for Reid, who was upset that management was not receptive to her concern. That is the type of environment that Reid and hundreds of workers and supporters protested Thursday by picketing and marching around the Glendale Hilton.