Speak Your Mind, Even If Your Voice Shakes

Last night I got an email from Rev. Daniel Klawitter, the organizer I worked with last summer when I worked for the labor union. Some of you may know that grocery workers at Safeway and King Soopers have been trying to negotiate a contract with corporate CEOs for months and the longer negotiations go on, the more corporate tries to cheat them out of fair wages and benefits. 

The email I received from Daniel asked me to call corporate headquarters this morning and tell them I support the grocery workers. I didn't want to. I was nervous. I knew my voice would shake. But then I remembered a bumper sticker I saw this past weekend that said, "Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes."

So I decided to call. My voice DID shake, but I told the woman on the phone who I was, that my husband and I shopped at the Safeway on Federal Blvd, and that the workers recognize us when we come in. I told her how much we spend each week at Safeway and that we are prepared to shop somewhere else if negotiations are not fair to the workers. 

I have no idea if it will make any difference, but I am hoping so. Not only because I care about the workers who work there, but because refusing to shop at the grocery store that is one block from my house will be inconvenient. I can't think of one of the top of my head, but I'm sure that somewhere in the gospels Jesus said, "Beware! Discipleship will be extremely inconvenient!" 

If you also shop at Safeway or King Soopers and would like to make a call, here are the numbers:

Safeway (925) 467-3000

King Soopers (513) 762-4000

Here is a SHORT video of Daniel talking about why he is supporting grocery workers: