Subseries: Breithaupt, Harold W.

INTRODUCTION

BREITHAUPT'S FATHER WAS A STORE MANAGER FOR A & P AND KROGER
Scope and Content Note: A & P, Lake Mills, Wisconsin, 1924. At that time, A & P paid managers a certain amount and out of that amount had to come the wages for any hired help.

IN MID-1930s, FATHER OPENED HIS OWN STORE IN BELOIT
Scope and Content Note: A neighborhood store, located across the street from the Kroger store he had been managing. Drove Kroger store out of business within three years. One thousand dollars a week volume was considered large enough to show a reasonable profit at that time. No employees, just Breithaupt and his parents. Not self-service. Cash register did not add; orders were tallied with a pencil on the outside of the grocery bag. At first, ice was the only refrigeration method. Full line of dairy products. Butter was packaged, but flour, sugar, beans, etc. were handled in bulk. Credit purchases, which naturally caused some problems since this was the Depression Era. Since few people had refrigeration at home, customers made purchases daily or even more often. Groceries delivered to the store once a week; meat and produce twice a week. Most items secured locally, but meat came from Madison and produce from Milwaukee. A decade earlier, grocery stores did not carry meat and produce.

DESPITE THE LONG HOURS AND LOW PAY, BREITHAUPT ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WOULD BE A GROCERY MAN
Scope and Content Note: When he was making $20 a week, men at Fairbanks-Morse were making $30 a week, but the latter would be on layoff for half the year. His father's store was open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and he was there the whole time. While in high school, his father paid him 25 cents a week. After graduating from high school, he worked full-time and eventually got up to $12 a week; worked six days every week plus every other Sunday. Father was doing well if he made $35 a week.

HAD HIS OWN STORE IN BELOIT, 1946 TO 1949
Scope and Content Note: He and his wife (married 1942) ran the store. At about the time the store was beginning to pay off, the owner of the building asked to buy it, and when Breithaupt refused, the rent was raised so much he had to sell. The store was about 30 feet by 60 feet, and it had one of the first open frozen food cases in town, a walk-in cooler, double-duty meat case, and a refrigerated produce rack. Other people in the grocery business would visit his store to see all the innovations. At the time, he was very disappointed that he had to sell, but in hindsight, it was probably good because the trend toward larger stores which the chains were beginning at the time would have made it difficult to sell his store if he had held on to it three or four more years.

HIS WAS BASICALLY A SELF-SERVICE STORE
Scope and Content Note: Set it up with his savings and a bank loan. Became aware of grocery innovations through trade magazines. Meat display case, no custom cutting. One checkout counter near the front. Grocery carts, which were also new to Beloit. People about 60 years old and older resented the self-service concept and still insisted he fetch items for them. Because the operation was small, the self-service aspect did not result in lower prices. Did result in heavier volume and a little more profit. He, his wife, and a high school boy were the only workers in the store. Made a bed for his baby daughter under the counter. Despite all the self-service innovations, it was still considered a neighborhood store.

PHYSICAL LAYOUT OF BREITHAUPT'S STORE
Scope and Content Note: Description of layout. The layout involved no sales psychology; it was designed so that damageable items would be picked up last. His father's store, on the other hand, had no rhyme or reason to its layout.

THE WORK DAY AND WORK WEEK AT BREITHAUPT'S STORE
Scope and Content Note: Located near Fairbanks-Morse factory, and work day geared to trade from factory workers. Opened at 6 a.m. so men could purchase lunch and tobacco products before starting work at 7 a.m. Stocked meat and produce, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Took telephone orders 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and made deliveries 11 a.m. to noon. Very busy with factory workers over noon hour. Stocked shelves 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Very busy again for two or three hours when the factory let out at about 3:30 p.m. Stayed open til 9 p.m. Unlike father's store and most other neighborhood stores, was closed Sundays. Received deliveries once a week, usually early or mid-week. Would spend most of delivery day stocking. Prices were marked on shelves, under each item, not on each item. Prices stable enough that he knew price for every item in the store. Potatoes came in 100-pound bags; rice, beans and a few other items still came in bulk. Peanut butter, lard and butter no longer bulk.

END OF TAPE 1, SIDE 1

INTRODUCTION

MORE ON HOME DELIVERY FROM BREITHAUPT'S STORE
Scope and Content Note: Deliveries were done at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., sometimes twice in one day to the same residence. People knew what time they had to call in orders to make delivery deadlines.

AFTER SELLING HIS STORE, BREITHAUPT WENT TO WORK FOR CACCIATORE'S MAIN MARKET WHICH WAS NOTED FOR ITS MEAT
Scope and Content Note: Cacciatore was an independent with four stores in Rockford, Illinois, and one in Beloit. Did the largest volume of meat business in Beloit. Although known mainly as a meat market, carried a full line of produce and groceries. Located downtown, but kept live chickens in back of the store; butchered chickens once a week. Three full-time meat cutters; glass-enclosed meat case; meat pre-cut, but not pre-wrapped; custom cuts available.

MEAT AT BREITHAUPT'S OWN STORE
Scope and Content Note: For a while he cut meat himself. Would buy and cut a pork loin but did not do large enough business to cut a whole side of beef. Bought beef at a discount from other retailers and sold it for their retail price; this done as a convenience for customers.

DESCRIPTION OF MAIN MARKET
Scope and Content Note: Sales area was about 30 feet by 75 feet. Three checkout counters. Considered a supermarket by the standards of the day. In addition to the meat cutters and Breithaupt, there were three or four women employed. Checkers did the stocking, but Breithaupt would carry out. Closed Sundays. Neither meat cutters nor clerks were organized, and there were no attempts to organize them while Breithaupt was manager.

BREITHAUPT'S RESPONSIBILITIES AS STORE MANAGER COMPARED TO STORE MANAGERS TODAY
Scope and Content Note: Basically responsible for seeing that things ran smoothly. Ordered all groceries and produce and was in charge of hiring and supervising clerks. Meat department operated independently. Had full authority for ordering (how much and from whom) and pricing. Today merchandise comes from a central warehouse pre-priced. Formerly, even chain managers had some purchasing leeway.

MEAT IN THE 1950s
Scope and Content Note: Ordered from various big packers, depending on where the bargains were or which packer carried preferred items. Most stores carried Utility grade, which people would not even eat today. U.S. Good was generally the top grade carried; Choice was extremely rare, and Prime was unheard of. People would not buy Choice because it had too much fat. Meat came to the store in either full or a half beef. At Main Market, there was no head meat cutter; the three meat cutters worked as equals and did their own ordering.

COMPARISON OF BREITHAUPT'S STORE AND MAIN MARKET
Scope and Content Note: Main Market cash registers did addition. Major difference was Main Market had no heat, which was common for meat markets; gas heater near checkouts added in later years. Had to cover produce with gunny sacks at night to prevent freezing.

MORE DESCRIPTION OF MAIN MARKET
Scope and Content Note: Forty to fifty feet of meat case. Frozen food cases; no parking lot; shopping carts; no conveyor belts at checkout.

CRYSTAL FOODS, 1956 TO 1966
Scope and Content Note: The largest independent in Beloit. Was building a new store, 15,000 to 20,000 square feet, the largest store in Beloit. Owner hired Breithaupt to manage this new store. Breithaupt bought all merchandise and planned layout for the new store. Had five or six checkouts. Had 45 employees--six in meat department, four women in deli, three women in bakery, balance were checkers and stockers. Managerial structure was new. Breithaupt had little to do with the meat department; head meat cutter had invested in the store. Deli, bakery and produce were separate departments with heads that answered to Breithaupt. There was also a head checker and a bookkeeper. Non-union and no attempts to organize. Breithaupt would have favored unionization because the wages and benefits were so low he was limited in the type of person he was able to hire. “You filled your store up with people that were inefficient as a general rule.” Krogers were only organized stores in Beloit.

EXTENT OF UNIONIZATION WHEN BREITHAUPT WENT TO WORK FOR THE UNION IN 1968
Scope and Content Note: Janesville was well organized, but in Beloit, only Kroger and Kohl's were organized. A & P was non-union. Eagle was organized in 1968, on the second attempt. Top hourly rate for a clerk in a union store was $2.87.

WAGES, HOURS, FRINGES AT CRYSTAL FOODS
Scope and Content Note: Clerk wages were between $1 and $1.50 per hour; 40-hour week. Department heads made more money but worked 60-hour weeks. Prestige and higher weekly earnings prompted people to become department heads; hourly wages may have actually been less than clerks; six- and seven-day weeks and 12-hour days were common. Eventually, company paid half of hospitalization insurance. full-timers got one week vacation after one year and two weeks after two years, but that was the top.

COMPARISON OF FOOD STORES--1960 VERSUS 1980
Scope and Content Note: Two-thirds of Crystal employees were full-time, and part-timers were mostly students. The ratio is reversed today. Half were male, often people who simply could not get better jobs. If business was slow, full-timers would clean shelves and the like; people worked the same schedule the year round. Today, if business is down one week, hours are cut the next. Stock rotation and cleaning are of less concern today. More supervisors today, with each department having a head.

WAGE DETERMINATIONS IN 1950s TO 1960s NON-UNION STORES
Scope and Content Note: Rarely were raises granted because of longevity. Increases usually granted only when individual employee “hollered.” If manager wanted a particular person to work in his store, he could give that person a higher rate than what people who had worked in the store for ten years were making.

END OF TAPE 1, SIDE 2

INTRODUCTION

MORE ON WAGE DETERMINATIONS IN NON-UNION STORES--CRYSTAL FOODS
Scope and Content Note: An employee could get fired for telling someone else how much money he made. Management's attitude was that the people who had been working for the store for 15 years would not leave no matter what they were paid. “You were paid what the company felt they had to pay you to keep you there....”

FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF CRYSTAL FOODS
Scope and Content Note: Physical layout. Profitable items now being placed near front. Conveyor belts at checkouts; deliveries unloaded onto roller ramps; prices stamped on items; carts to haul stock around the store. Stocking done during the day. At Main Market, customers unloaded their own carts even though checkouts did not have conveyors and checkers would bag own groceries. Crystal had bag boys.

BREITHAUPT FIRED AS CRYSTAL MANAGER
Scope and Content Note: Was hospitalized for a week with stomach problems caused by nerves. Was given one week's notice of termination the day after he returned to work. Sold automobiles for a while and worked on the assembly line at Chrysler's Belvidere plant for six weeks. He was 46 years old at the time.

GOT A JOB WITH EAGLE
Scope and Content Note: Interviewed with Eagle Foods for managerial position and said he did not want to leave the area. Was hired as a stocker and after three months was offered a manager's position in Iowa, which he refused.

ATTEMPTS TO ORGANIZE EAGLE STORES IN BELOIT
Scope and Content Note: Three other employees approached him about forming a union. Because of the circumstances surrounding his termination at Crystal, he was amenable to the union idea. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the election had to cover both Eagle stores in Beloit. The other store lost the election for them. In order to break up the foursome who favored unionization, Breithaupt was transferred to the other Eagle store where he spent the next year organizing.

PRIOR TO EAGLE, BREITHAUPT HAD AVOIDED WORKING FOR CHAIN STORES BECAUSE CHAIN MANAGERS WERE SUBJECT TO FREQUENT TRANSFERS

BREITHAUPT'S JOB WITH EAGLE
Scope and Content Note: A stocker, but he had to train a young assistant manager.

COMPARISON OF WORK AT EAGLE TO MAIN MARKET AND CRYSTAL
Scope and Content Note: More part-time employees. Stockers, in order to make an eight-hour day, had to work split shifts. Came in at 5 a.m. to unload trucks and stock shelves until store opened. Came back to work the 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. rush; went home for supper; returned to stock after supper. When breaks were instituted, had to come to work at 4:45 a.m. and take a break first thing.

EAGLE UNIONIZED
Scope and Content Note: After Breithaupt was transferred to the second Eagle store, whenever someone complained about something, he told them they should have voted for the union. Union won its second Eagle election in 1968. Immediate positive changes because of the union: no split shifts, breaks in the middle of the morning instead of at the beginning of the day, ten cents an hour raise, insurance, pension.

HIRED AS BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE FOR RETAIL CLERKS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION (RCIA) LOCAL 1401
Scope and Content Note: When the first contract with Eagle was negotiated, Breithaupt was the representative from his store. Local 1401 President Bill Moreth asked if he would like to work for the union. He knew the long hours of a business representative and had had enough long hours as a store manager. However, being a stocker in his late forties was beginning to tell on his body, and his wife convinced him to look into the union job. Three others interviewed for the job, and he got it.

HIS ATTEMPT TO ORGANIZE CRYSTAL FOODS
Scope and Content Note: Harold Bitter had been servicing Janesville and Beloit in addition to some duties in Madison. Breithaupt was given Janesville and Beloit and tried to organize Crystal Foods where he had once managed. The election was lost because management said it would close the store if it was unionized.

DUTIES AS BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE
Scope and Content Note: Received training and literature to read. Travelled with Bitter and Moreth for several months to learn the ropes. Was not given contract negotiations for some time, and all grievance handling had to be reviewed by Moreth. There was no steward system in Local 1401 because Moreth felt business representatives could handle grievances more efficiently and would not feel the pressure a steward might feel working in a store in which a grievance was in progress. Also, because of contract uniformity, there was enforcement uniformity which could be more effectively handled by a business representative. Milwaukee stores had a steward system when Local 1401 merged with Milwaukee Local 444 to form Local 1444 in 1980. Moreth changed their duties so that their only responsibility is signing up new members. In general, members have “a lack of interest unless they have a problem.” Breithaupt visits each store once a month so that he gets to know the employees, and they get to know him. He carries a route book with him which he checks against time cards for new employees.

COMMON GRIEVANCES/PROBLEMS
Scope and Content Note: Three quarters of his work is ironing out problems before they become grievances. About half the time management is wrong, and about half the time the worker is expecting too much. Most common problems are scheduling, preferable shifts, holiday/vacation dates, productivity complaints by management, incorrect cash register totals over a period of time, tardiness and absenteeism, and raises.

CHECKER ERRORS
Scope and Content Note: Company must first prove drawers did not balance properly. Then Breithaupt makes sure the checker checked her own drawer in and out, and the drawer was used by no one else.

END OF TAPE 2, SIDE 1

INTRODUCTION

LEGITIMATE CAUSES FOR DISMISSAL
Scope and Content Note: Theft; repeated tardiness; not doing job properly; mismanagement of department by department head; insubordination.

STORES MORE IMPERSONAL TODAY AND TOUGHER ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
Scope and Content Note: Except somewhat at Woodman's Food Stores, both chains and independents make little effort to correct problems or help employees with problems. Where once management would carry to retirement a loyal employee of many years, now management would prefer the employee quit so a younger, cheaper, quicker person can be hired.

UNION MEETINGS
Scope and Content Note: Monthly membership meetings are held in Milwaukee, and bimonthly meetings in Madison and Janesville. Also, an area meeting is held each month in a town other than Milwaukee, Madison or Janesville. These latter meetings are mainly for informational purposes--communications, answering questions, making the members feel they are part of the organization.

NEGOTIATIONS PROCEDURE
Scope and Content Note: Proposal meeting with the membership; draw up and submit proposals to the company. Each business representative handles his own negotiations. After concluding a tentative agreement with management, contract is explained and membership votes on it at another large meeting. Majority rules. Because of past practices, employees do sit in on negotiations with some stores, but in general, it is just the business representatives. Breithaupt has mixed emotions about employee representation on bargaining teams; feels time is wasted putting on a show when employees are present. In Milwaukee, strike votes, as a bargaining tool, were common, but Breithaupt has “never taken one back that I recommended be rejected because I never went back until I figured I had what I could get.”.

CHANGING BARGAINING PATTERNS
Scope and Content Note: Until the last contract, negotiated two years ago, chains bargained together and arrived at a master agreement that would cover them all. At the last negotiations, however, Woodman's and John Godfrey's Sentry stores pulled out of the management group. Their contracts now are basically the same but do have some different language so that business representatives can no longer answer employee questions without looking up the specific contract. The reason Sentry and Woodman's pulled out was because a few years ago at negotiations, a representative from National Tea was the industry spokesman, and he gave in on a number of items the others did not want to give in on; and, after the conclusion of negotiations, National closed all its Wisconsin stores.

SENTRY STORES AND THE THREAT OF NON-UNIONISM
Scope and Content Note: A master agreement is bargained only for those Sentry stores owned by Godfrey. Those Sentry stores which have been franchised to other owners have their contracts bargained individually and usually for lower rates since they are often in small towns. Because successor clauses are unenforceable, Godfrey uses the threat of franchising against the union. In Monroe, he sold his organized Sentry store to a new owner who refused to hire back any of the old employees; the new employees know this and refuse to talk to the union.

BARGAINING GETTING TOUGHER
Scope and Content Note: The cost of doing business is skyrocketing, and the only thing the employer can control at all is wages. This is particularly a problem for non-food stores which are organized and are in competition with unorganized stores. Janesville is highly organized, so it is not too big a problem there. Even in food now, however, there are enough non-union stores showing up to make wage competition a factor.

NON-UNION STORES IN THE BELOIT/JANESVILLE AREA
Scope and Content Note: The Monroe Sentry store pays no one more than minimum wage, and no one gets vacation, paid holidays or insurance unless they work 40 hours a week. Copps uses the threat of closing to keep the union out. Copps employees tell Breithaupt they are not worth more than $3.50 per hour. In the Copps store at Janesville, Breithaupt signed up all the female employees but was unable to sign up a single male because management had given them all titles and convinced them they were part of management, even though they were only being paid five cents over minimum wage. In smaller towns, the only part-time jobs available are often in minimum wage discount stores, and people do not want to jeopardize their employment by talking to the union. Employers are using the threat of closing more and more to prevent organization.

LOCAL 1444 DUES AND INITIATION RATES
Scope and Content Note: Dues are about two hours' wages per month. Initiation fee is less for part-timers than full-timers.

CONTRACTUAL CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES
Scope and Content Note: Those working 24 hours per week are considered full-time. Wages for full-timers and part-timers are the same. The only difference is insurance coverage; part-timers' dependents are not covered by the insurance. Many new classifications were added in the late 1970s.

TREND TOWARD PART-TIMERS
Scope and Content Note: Employers are scheduling people to work only when they are needed to stock or to check customers. Thus, despite the available hours clause, people with seniority are unable to schedule many hours without working a split shift or a sixth day, and the contract forbids both. About 60% of food store employees are now part-timers.

END OF TAPE 2, SIDE 2

INTRODUCTION

PART-TIMERS, FULL-TIMERS, AND SCHEDULING
Scope and Content Note: Membership has not pushed for an end to the contract clause which prohibits split shifts; rather, the membership would like the union to force management to schedule people for eight-hour shifts. Stores need many more people on Saturday than on weekdays but must schedule each employee for at least 12 hours a week. Membership felt job was not worth having if it was for less than 12 hours a week. Most employers do not like having too many short-hour people because it creates extra bookkeeping. The problem of holding on to part-timers is getting worse all the time. At Woodman's, the computer sets up work schedules. Work schedules vary from week to week for both part-timers and full-timers. “They seem to spend more time writing schedules than doing anything else.” Management is not chipping away at the hours of 40-hour people because there is no advantage to doing this; the cost of wages and benefits are the same for full-time and part-time. Employers nevertheless prefer to have two part-timers instead of one full-timer because there are four hands instead of two during rush periods. The union would prefer to see more full-time, career people because the turnover among part-timers makes for poor union members.

DIFFICULT TO MAKE A CAREER IN THE FOOD STORE BUSINESS TODAY
Scope and Content Note: Despite available hours clause, it takes a very long time for someone to accumulate enough seniority to get a 40-hour week. Also, no new stores are opening in southern Wisconsin, so there are very few managerial positions available. In Beloit, there are 400 clerks and only six assistant manager positions.

ASSISTANT MANAGERS
Scope and Content Note: Most are good union members. Hence, not many problems result from having both assistant managers and clerks in the same union. Assistant managers are not permitted to write up employees; if an assistant manager sees an infraction, the manager must write it up. Assistant managers are trained for management positions, but many refuse to become managers because they do not want to give up union security and benefits. Some employers attempt to demote assistant managers who refuse promotion.

MORE ON THE GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
Scope and Content Note: Ninety-nine percent of all grievances are worked out at the store level. First step is meeting with the store manager and the employee. Second step is meeting with the supervisor. Third step goes to personnel and is written up. Fourth step is arbitration.

GOVERNING STRUCTURE OF LOCAL 1444
Scope and Content Note: Executive Board, elected by the membership, runs the local. Business representatives are hired by the Executive Board. Business representatives of Local 1401 could not be Executive Board members, but they could in Local 444. Thus, some business representatives are on the Board of Local 1444, but this will be phased out.

TOUGHEST EMPLOYERS TO DEAL WITH
Scope and Content Note: Changed from time to time. Kohl family was easier to deal with than the current conglomerate ownership.

STRIKES
Scope and Content Note: Since Breithaupt became a business representative, there has been a big strike at Topp's in Madison and a strike at the Sentry store in Waterford, but no strikes of chain stores.

STORE CLOSINGS
Scope and Content Note: Union position is that all closed because of poor management. A & P was backward; still had oiled floors after tile floors were common. Kroger did not put profits back into the stores. National was distracted by an attempt by a Canadian company to take over. The country was not ready for Kroger's attempt to operate with central meat cutting; had to close central cutting plant in Madison. Employees of closed stores usually are out of a job. Although the contract forces management to interview people referred by the union, it does not force management to hire them. Seniority is not portable from chain to chain, so a full-time employee from a closed store would have to start at the bottom of the seniority list in another store and would thus receive very few hours of work. Also, since experience does play a role in where a new hire is placed on the pay schedule, employers prefer to hire inexperienced people because they are paid less. Union unable to bargain more influence over hiring practices.

SUPREME COURT DECISION WHICH INVALIDATED SUCCESSOR CLAUSES
Scope and Content Note: Decision involved the Burns Detective Agency and said if a new employer hires 51% of the old employees, he must negotiate a new contract with their union. Many employers will rehire 49% of the old employees, which means the union's recognition will be lost.

ENTRANCE OF CONGLOMERATES INTO THE FOOD STORE BUSINESS

MAJOR CHANGES IN FOOD STORES SINCE THE 1930s
Scope and Content Note: Union brought seniority rights and job security. Hours greatly reduced from the 60- to 70-hour weeks of the past. Health and welfare and pensions. Work is physically easier now because of the introduction of better heat and air conditioning and mechanization, but mentally it is harder because of a greater push by employers for increased production. Customer relations no longer a big part of a clerk's work.

PRODUCTIVITY
Scope and Content Note: Like an industrial union, Clerks point to productivity increases at the bargaining table. Thus, increased wages and fringes have been tied to increased productivity. Because of inflation, however, productivity increases have been difficult to measure. Rather than measuring by dollars, some employers are now measuring by case counts and even some by individual can counts.

END OF TAPE 3, SIDE 1

INTRODUCTION

WITHOUT THE UNION, MINIMUM WAGE IS THE GOING RATE
Scope and Content Note: Employees in low-wage, non-union stores are being pushed for higher production just as much as those in union stores. Further, low wages in non-union stores are not reflected in lower retail prices; they are reflected in higher profits.

SUNDAY AND EVENING WORK
Scope and Content Note: The larger stores began to open regularly on Sundays about 15 years ago. The union negotiated double time for Sunday work in the hope of keeping the stores closed on Sunday, but in Beloit, the stores opened on Sunday the week after the double time was negotiated. Previously, Sunday grocery purchases had been left to the ma and pa stores. Today, Sunday is a big grocery buying day. Evening hours have been common for many years. Breithaupt's father's store was open until midnight on Saturday.

AUTOMATION/MECHANIZATION CHANGES
Scope and Content Note: Self-service. Refrigeration. Absence of bulk deliveries and sales. No item marking in stores with scanners.

COMPUTERIZATION/SCANNERS
Scope and Content Note: The biggest change Breithaupt has witnessed. When introduced in Woodman's, the employees did not oppose it, although the union did because it would mean fewer hours. It did not mean fewer hours at Woodman's because the sales volume increased, but it means fewer hours at other stores whose business Woodman's is drawing. The average customer does not like computerization and scanners because price comparisons are more difficult, and the price on the shelf might not be the same as the price in the computer. Nevertheless, customers do patronize Woodman's to a great extent. Checkers no longer have to know how to make change; today's high school graduates do not know how to make change anyway. Computerization and scanners will become the norm for large stores; otherwise they will not be able to compete.

UNION REACTION TO SCANNERS
Scope and Content Note: Union did not try to prevent the introduction of scanners but did try to get at first national and state legislation and then city ordinances requiring each item to be price-marked. In Beloit, Breithaupt's efforts in the City Council failed; no attempt was made in Janesville because of Woodman's influence in that city. Madison had such an ordinance for one year, but it was not renewed. Contracts require employers to train existing employees to use scanners, but nothing in the contract prevents a reduction in hours due to scanners.

WORK RULES
Scope and Content Note: Before unionization, there were no written work rules. “You knew what was acceptable, and you knew what wasn't, and that was it.”

UNION INDOCTRINATION/ORIENTATION
Scope and Content Note: Milwaukee Clerks at one time had to attend the first meeting, but that has been dropped. Now new employees get a packet with an explanation of what the union is, phone numbers, a contract, a constitution, a booklet on the grievance procedure. Monthly newsletter. Business representative store visits.

CLERK TRAINING
Scope and Content Note: Very little training given by employers. Most hired now as baggers first and given maybe a half hour instruction on how to pack a grocery bag. Checkers given about a day's training on the cash register, which is not enough. Kohl's gives the most training to checkers. Checker positions now must be filled from the utility clerk classification (baggers and carryout), so a certain amount of observation has taken place.

HIRING
Scope and Content Note: Although the contract requires that checkers be hired from the utility classification, it does not require that this be done strictly on a seniority basis because not all utility clerks are able to handle the checker's job. If the union insisted on seniority in this, some people could never be hired as baggers in the first place. Most stores require a written test and a personal interview. As part of their test, women baggers must be able to lift an 80-pound bag of salt and put it in a shopping cart. Because of the higher wages and better fringes, employers today should have a better choice of job applicants. Before, stores had to take what was left over. “Clerks used to be where the people working in banks are today.”

PAY SCHEDULES
Scope and Content Note: The union philosophy has always been to get people to the top of the schedule as quickly as possible. The members do not always agree with this, and the employers obviously want few people at the top of the schedule. Thus, whereas the schedules used to be 24 months in length, they are now over five years.

WOMEN CLERKS
Scope and Content Note: There is a higher percentage of women clerks today than during the 1960s and before. More women are working, and this is a job open to them. Also, men usually want full-time work, and food store work is rapidly turning into part-time work only. Having a high percentage of women members has not caused any particular problems. Incidents of sexual harassment are very few. Women are more active in the union than men. The wage differential between men and women was ended as an anti-discrimination measure. Men and women do the same work in stores today.

BREITHAUPT'S ASSESSMENT OF THE GROCERY BUSINESS
Scope and Content Note: Challenging. A steady job. Good wages and benefits in union stores, though opportunities for promotion are limited. What Breithaupt liked most about the work was meeting people and not having to do the same thing day after day.

END OF INTERVIEW