(The following story by Larry M Edwards appeared at SanDiego.com on February 4.)
SAN DIEGO — Hopes for ending the nearly four-month-old grocery strike and lockout were dashed today when the supermarket operators rejected an offer from the workers’ union to have its members return to work if the companies would agree to binding arbitration.
In a joint statement issued by Albertsons Inc., Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc., about three hours after the union submitted its proposal, the supermarket operators accused the United Food and Commercial Workers of attempting to “shift the focus” away from the its “inability” to reach an agreement.
The UFCW’s arbitration proposal called for the approximately 70,000 grocery clerks from San Diego to San Luis Obispo to immediately return to work under the terms of their previous contract, which expired on Oct. 5.
The offer also would have required the supermarket chains to fire the thousands of replacement workers hired to operate their stores during the strike.
The work stoppage began Oct. 11 when 21,000 Vons workers walked off their jobs. Ralphs Grocery Co., which is owned by Kroger, and Albertsons then locked out 49,000 other workers in solidarity with Vons parent, Safeway Inc.
When today’s proposal was unveiled during a morning news conference in Los Angeles, union officials vowed to continue the walkout if the grocery companies did not accept their offer.
“If, for some reason, the employers refuse to go into binding arbitration, we will continue to strike,” said Rick Icaza, president of the UFCW Local 770.
The union wanted an arbitrator to decide the outcome of the dispute and for both parties to be bound by the decision.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service met with union and supermarket representatives in November and again in December in an effort to end the labor dispute, but neither side would budge. At issue are reduced health-care benefits and lower wages for new employees.
In the companies’ reply to the union’s arbitration offer, they said that since FMCS is already involved, they don’t need another “outsider” unfamiliar with the issues.
“Labor disputes are resolved by face-to-face negotiations with people familiar with the issues,” the statement said. “Only the parties to this labor dispute, engaged in active negotiation, can arrive at a reasonable solution that is mutually acceptable to both sides.”
Meanwhile, the supermarkets have racked up tens of millions of dollars in lost sales, and the striking and locked-out workers have had their strike pay reduced, creating additional financial hardship.
The union has scheduled a Thursday rally on New York City’s Wall Street involving grocery workers and their supporters, according to a UFCW spokesperson.