Grocery workers walk out of contract negotiations

Grocery workers walk out of contract negotiations Union negotiators for Southern California grocery workers Tuesday walked out of contract negotiation with three major grocery chains one day ahead of a scheduled four-day break in talks.
   In walking out, negotiators from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said representatives from the Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons supermarket chains were 'making unacceptable demands that would lead to further erosion of health benefits and wages for workers.'
   The union walkout comes after the grocery chains' offered a health care package that the union believes would bankrupt the trust fund that pays for coverage. Calling the proposal “an insult to members,” the UFCW accused the grocery companies of trying to force another contract meltdown like the 141-day strike and lockout of 2003-04 in Southern California.
   The grocery store chains responded, blasting the union move as a 'media stunt,' and pointing out that the talks were already scheduled to break for four days starting Wednesday.
   “Once again, the union has chosen to walk away from negotiations, ignore the federal mediator’s request for a media blackout and engage in media stunts rather than productive negotiations,” said Adena Tessler, a spokeswoman for the three supermarket chains, in a statement.
   The grocery workers union is pushing for repeal of a two-tier wage and benefit system imposed at the end of a bitter strike three years ago. The three grocery chains have so far held firm on the two-tier provisions, saying they are essential to keep the grocery chains competitive within the industry. Contract talks have broken off twice in the past, only to reconvene several days later.
   The current contract, covering 65,000 employees, expired on March 5; there have been two extensions since then. The contract is now being automatically renewed on a daily basis.
   Union members authorized a strike against Albertsons on March 25, but did not set a date. A week later, the supermarket chains announced a mutual aid pact and said that if the union initiated a strike against one of them the others would lock out workers.
   In the meantime, trucks will continue delivering goods to California grocery stores that remain open under the extended contract.
   The five-month-long strike and lockout in 2003-2004 put nearly 70,000 United Food and Commercial Workers union members in southern and central California on the picket lines. The acrimonious strike by the union and lockout of employees by some chains centered on cuts in union member benefits and eventually cost supermarkets $2.5 billion in profits.
   The 8,000 California Teamster union members, including truck drivers, honored the UFCW picket lines during the 2004 strike.