SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Grocery-store clerks to vote on contract after long battle
Voting was to begin today on a pact that could end the 41/2 month walkout.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California grocery clerks will decide during a two-day vote whether to end the longest supermarket strike in U.S. history and send 70,000 cash-strapped employees back to work.
The grocery workers' union and three chains settled on a tentative contract Thursday, after 16 straight days of negotiations. Before then, talks had broken down several times since the start of the dispute on Oct. 11.
Union leaders were slated to brief the clerks on the details of the proposed deal beginning this morning. If a majority of the employees ratify the tentative contract, many could be back at work by midweek, ending the 41/2-month strike.
The dispute between the United Food and Commercial Workers and the supermarket operators -- Albertsons, Kroger Co. and Safeway -- resonated nationwide because it was seen as a referendum on affordable employee health care.
Union statement
Details of the contract were not being released until union members vote. But in a statement, the United Food and Commercial Workers said the deal "preserves affordable health care, maintains pensions and achieves job security."
In a statement late Thursday, the companies said "the tentative agreement squarely addresses the challenging health-care costs and competitive issues we face."
Federal mediator Peter Hurtgen called the talks "one of the most difficult negotiations of my career."
Many employees said they were anxious to find out the details of the agreement, but welcomed the prospect of returning to their old jobs after going through months without pay and benefits.
"We want to go back to work," said Esther Barillas, a pharmacy technician at a Ralphs in Los Angeles. "But we hope it's a good deal."
Union locals in Los Angeles and Orange counties posted notices of the deal on their Web sites and advised members of meetings Saturday to begin voting. A message on the Web site of Local 324 in Buena Park sought to reassure union members that the agreement was worthwhile. "This is a deal that we can live with," the statement said.
Strike losses
The strike-lockout inconvenienced millions of shoppers in Southern California and led to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for the three grocery chains, which had taken a stand against rising employee health costs.
The union targeted Albertsons Inc., Kroger Co., which owns Ralphs, and Safeway Inc., the parent firm of Vons and Pavilions, affecting 859 stores from San Diego north to San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield. Sympathetic shoppers flocked to smaller chains and specialty stores to avoid picket lines.
Union members initially struck only the two Safeway chains. Hours later, Ralphs and Albertsons locked out clerks, saying a labor action against one chain amounted to action against all three.
At the start of the dispute, stores had to cut back hours and scramble to train replacement workers.
Negotiations had been deadlocked over the cost and scope of health benefits and a proposed two-tier wage system for future employees. Workers currently pay no premiums for full health coverage and have a $10 copay for doctor visits and prescriptions.
In a Dec. 2 contract offer, the companies sought worker contributions of $15 a month for family coverage by 2005.
Current employees are paid an average of $15 an hour and most do not work full time. The companies' Dec. 2 proposal offered no raises. The union sought hourly increases of 30 cents in the first year and 35 cents in each of the next two years.
By some analyst estimates, the strike cost the grocery chains between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion in lost revenue. Safeway and Kroger each reported net losses exceeding $100 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31.