The two reasons why workers keep getting screwed

About three months ago the United Food and Commercial Workers struck the Vons supermarket chain in southern California over issues including health care costs. In response, Albertsons and Ralphs supermarkets locked out their employees and the three companies indicated they would pool resources so no one chain would be weakened by lost revenues more than the others.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported January 1 on union efforts to gain support among upstaters for the 70,000 affected southern California workers. At a rally in San Francisco, hundreds gathered as

[c]ommunity leaders here, including Mayor-elect Gavin Newsom, spoke from the back of a flatbed truck, where they called on shoppers to boycott Safeway, which owns the Vons chain in Southern California.

"I have tremendous concern that this could happen here in Northern California," Newsom said. "There's only one way to stop it: Let's set a precedent in Southern California."

The result?

"People don't want to be inconvenienced," said Denise Gonzales, a 49-year-old bookkeeper who normally works at a Ralphs in Los Angeles County but has taken multiple trips to San Francisco to picket. "It's horrible to see (unionized) postal workers and bus drivers cross." ...

"They have their problems; I have mine," said Keith Morrill, a semi-retired bricklayer who said he's been ignoring the picket lines....

Reason 1: Corporations stick together.
Reason 2: Workers don't.

Update January 5: Minor edits for clarity.