(The Union-Tribune posted the following story by Frank Green on its website on October 22.)
SAN DIEGO — The union that represents 70,000 striking and locked out grocery workers in Southern California told federal mediators yesterday that it wants to jump-start negotiations with three major supermarket chains.
It was unclear if Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons would agree to return to the bargaining table without some incentives. Safeway, the parent company of Vons, has stressed that the companies already have made their best and final contract offer.
“No meetings are currently scheduled” between the United Food and Commercial Workers union and the supermarket chains, said Stacia Levenfeld, a spokeswoman for Albertsons. “If the union is ready to come back to the table with a new offer, we’re ready to come back to the table.”
The seven union presidents involved in the labor action began meeting in Anaheim on Monday evening.
It was only the second time they have been together since talks with the chains broke off Oct. 11 and a strike was called against Vons. Albertsons and Ralphs subsequently locked out their employees in a show of corporate solidarity.
Union officials said they spoke by phone yesterday morning with federal mediators in Washington and Los Angeles and signaled a willingness to participate in a new round of bargaining.
Mickey Kasparian, president of United Food and Commercial Workers local 135 in San Diego County, nevertheless said the union expects substantial movement by the supermarkets in any talks.
“This is supposed to be collective bargaining, not collective begging,” Kasparian said, noting that contentious issues ? higher medical costs and a two-tier pay system with lower wages for new hires ? need to be resolved. “There is a sense here that all of the parties need to get back to the bargaining table.”
Analysts said both sides have taken a bruising during the strike and lockouts, with picket lines at about 130 supermarkets in San Diego County and 730 stores elsewhere in Southern California.
Picketers, many of them part-time employees with limited incomes, are receiving a maximum of $300 a week from a union strike fund if they walk the line full time.
Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons have seen their market share in the Southern California grocery industry dip by more than 30 percent as some shoppers turn to small chains and independent stores, analysts said.
The possibility of negotiations is “a very good sign,” said Merrill Lehrer, an analyst and the president of Retail Samurai Sales in San Diego. “It shows that the union is sincere in its efforts to move this beyond a stalemate.”
Calls to officials at Vons and Ralphs seeking comment yesterday afternoon were not returned. However, Safeway’s chief executive, Steven Burd, has said the supermarket’s latest proposal to the union is the company’s best offer.
“I’m not promising that (any new offer) will be less good, but it could be less good,” Burd said Thursday. “It will not be better.”
Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway have characterized their proposal as an equitable offer that would bring wages and benefits more into line with other workers in the retail industry.
The chains also contend that getting some concessions from the union on key issues would help the firms prepare to compete with non-union Wal-Mart and other grocery companies about to enter the Southern California market.
Thus, negotiators on both sides of the table probably would face many of the same hurdles that caused contract talks to collapse more than a week ago.
The companies contend their workers have “one of the richest and most comprehensive” health benefit packages in the United States, according to a fact sheet they released. They say that asking workers to share some of the cost is “not an unreasonable request.”
The supermarkets also say the pension plan for the food clerks is one of the most generous in the country. The companies say their contributions for current employees will increase in each of the three years of the proposed contract.
Additionally, the companies say they have not asked current employees to take a pay cut.
The union opposes many changes the companies say are necessary for them to remain competitive.
New hires at stores seemingly would be the biggest losers under the chains’ proposal, at least in the short term, according to a union analysis of the offer. For example, the top pay a new checker could earn after 7,800 hours of service would be $15.10 an hour, or $2.80 less than current senior clerks, the union said.
Current grocery employees would also face first-ever contributions in their health care plans of $5 a week for an employee and $15 a week for an employee and family.
The union said members might be also required to pay up to 50 percent of prescription costs and half of hospital bills because the proposed contribution by companies to the plans would not be enough to maintain benefits.
There could be substantial increases in co-pays for office visits, and the total number of visits allowed could be capped, the union said.
Another sticking point is the amount the companies want to pay into pension plans. While the supermarkets say the contribution for current employees would increase, the union says the total contribution by the companies wouldn’t be enough to sustain benefits.
The supermarkets “also want unlimited stocking by (outside) vendors,” said the union’s Kasparian. “What do you think that will do to the jobs of our stock clerks?”