Civic Leaders Arrested

By Lookout Staff

Feb. 20 -- Ten protestors, half of them local civic leaders, were arrested Thursday at a demonstration in Santa Monica to draw attention to efforts to end a food workers strike that is entering its fifth month.

Among those arrested were former Mayor Dennis Zane, former Council member Dolores Press, former City Council candidate Abby Arnold, Pico Neighborhood Association board member Maria Loya and Vivian Rothstein, an activist with Santa Monicans Allied for Responsible Tourism. Also arrested was Tom Walsh, who heads the local Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union.

The ten demonstrators, who were part of a rally attended by about 200 protestors, blocked the entrance to the Vons at Broadway and Lincoln Boulevard, police said. They were charged with blocking public access and released.

“It was all pre-planned, so we knew who was going to be arrested,” said Lt. Frank Fabrega, the police department spokesman. “We worked closely with the union and organizers.”

The protest was one of four staged in the Los Angeles area to help train the spotlight on negotiations to end the strike, which began October 11.

Since then, more then 70,000 employees in nearly 900 stores have been manning picket lines across the Southland in response to proposals to cut health-care plans and new employee pay by the big supermarket chains Albertsons, Pavilions, Ralphs and Vons.

Supermarket operators argue that the cuts are needed to make their business more competitive as they prepare to come under increasing pressure from low budget “supercenters” such as Wal-Mart, which also plans to sell groceries in California later this year.