UPDATED: Another grocery strike?

Updated August 21, 1:40 p.m. It’s not a strike yet, but conditions haven’t been looking good over the weekend for a resolution to a dispute between three large grocery chains and their employees. Representatives of the three companies — Safeway (Vons), Albertsons and Kroger, parent company of Ralphs — walked out of contract talks with the United Commercial Food Workers Union (UCFW Local 770) chiefly over the cost of employee premiums for health insurance benefits, as well as wages.

Across Southern California, more than 62,000 union employees who work at 700 Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons stores began voting Friday on a healthcare and wage plan proposed by the three supermarket chains. Union members will vote to either accept or reject the plan, which would authorize a strike. However, at that point supermarket chains may say they’ll come back with a better offer, and the union will then give the grocer giants a deadline to make their pitch. If they fail to come up with a counter offer, union members could opt to give immediate notice to strike and then walk out 72 hours later.

A members’ vote to allow for a strike was held in April, and more voting was scheduled for Friday and Saturday. A vote to strike could lead to a 72-hour notice of a walkout and strike of more than 62,000 union members in locations across California. Results from the vote are expected to be released Monday. –Additional sources: OC Register, Chatsworth Patch

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In 2003, tensions created by the strike boiled over to the point where union member Doug Dolan sabotaged this company truck driven by then-manager Tom Barnes. (Photo: Lunch)

Eight years later, supermarkets, union again at odds

Vons shoppers in Mammoth Lakes, Bishop and other Safeway-owned grocery stores may soon have to decide whether or not to cross picket lines to shop if a vote on a new labor contract goes south.

Vons Supermarket in Mammoth Lakes employs approximately 100 people according to Store manager Rick Graham, making it one of Mono County’s largest employers.

Signs of a potential work stoppage popped up last weekend. in the form of a sign inside Mammoth’s Vons supermarket advertising for all positions.

United Commercial Food Workers (UCFW) union members numbering as many as 62,000, including at least 20,000 workers in Los Angeles alone, are preparing to walk off the job as soon as Friday, if necessary. Los Angeles Local 770 members met last Sunday in Burbank. Picket signs were reportedly on conference room tables during the meeting at which members discussed what to expect this week and possibly next. “We’re putting a line in the sand,” said Tracey Richardson, UCFW Local 770 member.

The major sticking point involves health coverage for supermarket workers, but wages are also a key stumbling block to reaching a deal. Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons said an improved health-care proposal has been submitted, but the union plans to counter the plan. “Talk of a strike and all this union’s related activities are a distraction from the real work of negotiating. We are prepared, whatever the outcome of the planned vote,” Albertsons said in a statement.

Rick Icaza, Local 770 president, one of the largest Southern California locals told ABC News Channel 7 in Los Angeles recently that the two sides are currently so far apart that, if no movement is seen, a strike is likely.

The L.A. County Federation of Labor, unions representing truck drivers, firefighters, teachers, dockworkers, nurses and others pledged their support if the grocery workers do decide to strike. The labor federation said it had set aside $100,000 to help strikers pay for food during a work stoppage, and that members of other unions would step in to walk picket lines along with grocery workers if needed.

The union’s contract expired in March, and in April the membership voted to authorize a strike. Months of negotiations ensued but have failed to produce a contract. Negotiations are being conducted under the supervision of a federal mediator, and are continuing throughout the week.

The union hopes to have an agreement by Friday, Aug. 19 to present to the membership, which will subsequently ratify or reject the deal. The earliest a walkout could happen, if the union rejects the contract and votes to initiate a strike, would be 72 hours after the vote. Large corporations own the three grocery chains involved. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway is the parent company of both Vons and Pavilions. (Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger owns Ralphs and Alberstons is own by SuperValu Inc., of Eden Prairie, Minn.)

In a joint statement, the three grocery companies said, “We are still actively negotiating, and any talk of a strike is unnecessary … The only place where we can reach an agreement is at the bargaining table, and we believe our focus should be there, reaching a fair and reasonable contract.”

The latest healthcare proposal, claims to hold the line on costs. The market chains also say it includes an increase in company contributions to the health care fund and maintain current prescription drug co-payments and the annual deductible and out-of-pocket maximums in the PPO plan.

Union officials, however, insisted the revised plan would still force workers to spend almost half of their salaries on health care costs, and would put the health plan in danger of bankruptcy.

Ralph’s spokesperson Kendra Doyel commented to FOX News LA. “We want to stay at the table. We want to stay at the table until we can reach an agreement that addresses all of these issues and makes it possible for us to have sustainable jobs now and for the future for these union workers.”

Meanwhile, there has been some progress. A pension issue has since been resolved, but the two sides are still a world apart on wages, according to Icaza. “There still is no wage proposal. There still is no comprehensive contract offer,” he said. “The corporations that own Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons are playing around the edges of their punitive plan to nickel-and-dime working families.”

The grocery unions last went out on strike in 2003, a 164-day-long action that disrupted consumer patterns in much of California, as customers scrambled to find stores not affected by the work stoppage. –Additional sources: UCFW, KABC-7, FOX LA.