Undercover at Ralphs

Ron White, a staff writer in the L.A. Times business section, was assigned to take a job as a replacement worker in the produce section at Ralphs. He didn't tell the store he was a reporter and got $17 an hour with no benefits.

A week ago Saturday, I became a scab.

I wanted to see what it was like to be a replacement worker during the supermarket labor dispute, and a Ralphs in Santa Monica hired me in produce, few questions asked.

I didn't get a uniform or a name tag, and there was no orientation meeting to welcome me into the Ralphs family. I did get a warning from the store manager: Park in the underground lot, just in case any pickets took offense at my new occupation.

He apparently worked two uneventful shifts, then went back to his reporter job "...without guilt. I wasn't a scab anymore."