Strike up the grill

Marisa O’Neil

Burgers and hot dogs sizzled in a pan sitting atop a camping grill on

the tailgate of Benjamin Tew’s red Blazer late Tuesday morning.

Nearby, the bed of a second truck served as a lunch buffet with buns,

mustard, ketchup and chips.

All the condiments sat on an impromptu tablecloth -- made of

picket signs. “Pavilions Employees on Strike,” the signs read.

“Please Respect Our Picket Line.”

Vons and Pavilions employees went on strike on Oct. 11 after

leaders of the United Food and Commercial Workers union and

representatives from the chains hit an impasse during negotiations,

which lasted one day. Ralphs and Albertsons locked out workers after

the walkout at Vons.

After more than 10 days on strike, grocery workers are hungry for

a settlement. And just plain hungry.

So the Newport Beach resident decided to throw a tailgate barbecue

for picketers at Pavilions on Via Lido in Newport Beach.

“I’ve been coming here for 15 years,” Tew, a boat captain at

nearby Lido Village, said. “And they’ve always treated me so well.”

On Monday and Tuesday, his days off, Tew fired up the grill and

cooked lunch -- bought at Smart & Final -- for about a dozen

picketers.

“We have such great customers,” Mickey Hansen, a checker at the

store for 15 years, said as she clutched her picket sign. “This is

such a great store. We really are like family.”

Hansen said that most regular customers seem to be respecting

their picket line and, like Tew, offering to help ease the long days

for strikers. People have brought them lunch, dropped off drinks and

even given them gift cards for the shopping center’s Starbuck’s.

“It’s a community store,” 18-year customer Carl Himmelman said. “I

thought that, being Newport, no one would boycott. But it’s our local

store. I usually come here every day and chat and socialize.”

Tew said that the center’s property management company told

picketers they couldn’t set up chairs or barbecue in the parking lot

because of liability issues. When he asked at the fire station if he

could set up his tailgate cooker on the street, they said it was OK

-- as long as he kept the parking meter fed.

“The parking lady came by yesterday and gave me a good, long

look,” he said as he flipped burgers on a street adjacent to the

center’s parking lot. “But she kept going.”

Strikers like Ron Sandiforth, the picket captain, said that he

finds the community support heartening. Sandiforth is nearing

retirement and worries about losing his pension and health coverage.

“Things here have been really smooth,” he said. “We’re not here to

cause trouble. We just want to get back to work. The only way we’ll

get back to work is people honoring [our picket line].”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].