Markets, Union Talking Round-the-Clock

Round-the-clock negotiations continue between supermarket chains and the union representing 62,000 grocery store clerks in Southern California.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770 web site noted as of 7:30 p.m. Sunday, ``Union negotiators are currently still at the table trying to negotiate a fair deal.''   The post warns, ``If the employers refuse to adequately fund healthcare, we will be forced to walk out and call a strike. If there is meaningful progress, we will continue to negotiate. DO NOT WALK off your jobs until you have received official notice from your union representative.''

Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons officials continued to meet with the workers' representatives at an undisclosed location, while union stewards spent the day passing out picket signs.

No grocery chain official would comment, but a union spokesman said no progress had been made Sunday.

Clerks at a pair of Ralphs and Vons supermarkets in Santa Monica Sunday said both chains had not reduced their deliveries of fresh baked goods, produce, milk and meat to the stores. The clerks, who did not want their names publicized, said the fresh deliveries of perishables may indicate that management at the Kroger's and Safeway chains, which own the grocery brands, are not anticipating closing their stores.

``We've heard that, and I think that does mean something,'' said union spokesman Mike Shimpock. ``And if they start to move in the negotiations, we intend to stay at the table'' and not call a strike, he said.

Union locals from Santa Maria to the Mexican border served notice at
7:10 p.m. Thursday that workers would walk off their jobs in exactly 72 hours -- Sunday at 7:10 -- if they did not see movement from the national chains.

Health insurance benefits are a major point of contention, with the
company offering an insurance package that union officials say would run out of money in 16 months. Under the most recent offer, workers would pay about $36 per month for individual health insurance, or $92 per month for family coverage, but the company contribution to that share has not been disclosed.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged grocery workers and supermarkets to
negotiate agreement to avoid a strike.

``As Mayor, I've had to make hard decisions during these tough economic times to close a $1.5 billion deficit,'' Villaraigosa said in a statement. ``We have laid off a record 4,600 employees. This year, fortunately, we were able to avoid layoffs and furloughs by negotiating a new agreement with our unions. Through their partnership and leadership, employees agreed to pay more for health care to stay on the job. And we agreed to find other ways to save money and jobs.''

Negotiators are also reportedly far apart on pay rates.

``They're sitting on their piles of cash, and they're throwing us
quarters,'' Shimpock told City News Service Sunday. The union claims the three chains made $3 billion in profits last year, and distributed $500 million to their shareholders.

Villaraigosa encouraged both sides to ``find a way to keep LA working.''

``At a time of persistently high unemployment, poverty and foreclosures the last thing we need is a devastating strike that will make it more difficult for thousands of workers to put food on the table for their families, pay their mortgages and afford other basic necessities,'' Villaraigosa said. ``The ripple effect will further damage our local economy and create additional hardships for LA residents who depend on these stores to feed their families.''

All three chains continued to solicit replacement workers Sunday. Ralphs has said it would close its stores if a strike is closed, but Vons has not made it clear if it would try to keep stores open with replacement workers and management.

A spokeswoman for Albertsons Sunday clarified an earlier statement that the Minnesota-based chain might close up to 100 stores in the event of a strike. Christie Ly told CNS that the number of stores closed would depend on how Albertsons management can manage to ''spread our resources to maintain a high level of customer service.

``We intend for most of our stores to be open,'' Ly said.

Mayor Villaraigosa told a KNX reporter Sunday that he is ``absolutely against'' a strike, but also said, ``I certainly understand the needs of the workers.''

Unions scheduled a 7:30 p.m. candlelight vigil Sunday outside a Vons
Pavilion's store in Beverly Hills. ``We will gather and try to show the market corporations their moral obligation to bring this conflict to a fair resolution,'' said Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770.

During a 141-day lockout in 2003-04, the stores hired temporary workers, and some of the chains were fined for rehiring regular employees under aliases. The replacement workers all lost their jobs when a new contract was signed, and the lockout cost the stores an estimated $1.5 billion.

-- City News Service