As the clock continued to tick on negotiations between three major grocery chains and employee unions, labor groups inched closer to a strike that would impact supermarkets throughout Santa Barbara County.
The United Food and Commercial Workers, the union representing thousands of grocery employees from Paso Robles to the Mexican border, continued daily, around-the-clock talks with a federal mediator for the second straight week as of press time on Sept. 13.
A majority of union members voted to authorize the strike on Aug. 19 and 20, and the UFCW must issue a 72-hour notice if it decides to act. Union representatives didn’t immediately return calls from the Sun for comment, but a recent update posted on the UFCW Local 770’s website describes the wage proposal offered by the chains as, “A bad offer for everyone. Everyone that is, except management.”
“Some health plan design issues have been worked out, but the Employers still have NOT offered the money needed to fund the health plan,” a posting dated Sept. 8 read. “Our health plan is continuing to run out of money and we are getting close to giving 72-hour notice if adequate funding is not achieved soon.”
If a strike does occur, area Albertsons, Vons and Ralph’s supermarkets would be impacted. While the dispute continued at the bargaining table, local stores were on the lookout for temporary workers, placing signs in windows announcing they were accepting applications due to a “potential labor dispute.”
“No one’s been hired, and we certainly hope we don’t have to hire anyone,” Albertsons spokesman Fred Muir said. “But the union has continued to talk about striking, and as a result, we need to have contingency plans for how we’re going to keep the stores open and operating. … We have a responsibility to continue to service our customers, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Muir said some progress has been made in the bargaining talks since the strike vote was taken and the chains are still meeting for 12 to 15 hours every day with the union, trying to hammer out a new contract.
“We’re certainly hoping they don’t call a strike,” he said. “We think the best course is for everyone to stay at the table and keep bargaining until we achieve a contract, because that’s the only place that a contract will be reached.”
Contracts for union members expired on March 6, and employees have agreed to extend it on a day-to-day basis since then. Talks have been held since June, with employee health benefits emerging as the major sticking point between the two sides. Employees say the chains’ health-care proposal would raise premiums and result in too much out-of-pocket cost. They are also objecting to cuts in pay and hours for clerks and raise reductions for other employees.
The last time the grocery workers’ union went on strike was 2003, and over the 20 weeks it lasted, supermarkets claimed they lost as much as $2 billion.
This article appears in Sep 15-22, 2011.
