Susie Lacy cares for others, whether on two legs or four
Susie Lacy is a steward with 13 years of union service. She has been married for 20 years, has three children, one grandchild, a zoo, and — Wait, what?
“Yes, we literally have a zoo in our house,” Lacy says. “My coworkers always joke with me that we should charge money and let people in. All of their kids want to come see the animals.”
Lacy, who works at Stater Bros. 42 in Riverside, says that her house is home to three dogs, one cat, two “huge iguanas,” four giant sulcata tortoises and a potbellied pig. |
Susie Lacey |
“I was never really into animals until I met my husband, Curtis,” she says. He’s also a UFCW member, working at Albertsons. “We’d go up into the hills to look for animals. We’d find snakes and lizards and he’d tell me everything about them. Then, as soon as the kids got into it, we brought more and more pets home.”
Those trips to the hills became a Lacy family tradition. “My kids are 20, 17 and 15 years old, and they still love to go with Dad and look for animals,” she says. “Now, my grandson is starting to get into it.”
While it is hard work taking care of all the various species living in her house, Lacy works just as hard, if not harder, for her union. Her duties include making sure the bulletin board in her store is updated, informing new members about the union, and helping members with grievance procedures.
“I didn’t know too much about the union before I was asked to be a steward three years ago,” she recalls. But she is a quick learner who makes it a priority to get her workers involved in their union.
“Sometimes people get upset when their union wants them to get involved and help out. I hear a lot of ‘That’s the union’s job, not mine,’” Lacy says. “I just look at them and tell them, ‘You are the union. This is your job because it’s about your job security and wages and benefits.’
“The more people the union has working for it, the more power it has and the better benefits and pay its members get.”
When the Lacys aren’t busy at their stores or tending their zoo at home, they like to get back to the great outdoors.
“We love to go to the river,” Lacy says. “We love to boat and Sea-Doo and dirt bike. We also like to go camp in the desert, up near Blythe and Laughlin.”
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