(The Associated Press distributed the following article on January 12.)
LOS ANGELES — Four days of secret, informal negotiations between striking Southern California grocery workers and their employers ended on Sunday without success, a union spokeswoman said.
Representatives from seven unions and from the grocery chains Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons met without a mediator in hope of producing a settlement, said the spokeswoman, Ellen Anreder of the United Food and Commercial Workers.
Sandra Calderon, a spokeswoman for Vons, said the two sides had made “limited progress.”
About 70,000 clerks at the chains have been on strike since Oct. 11 over things like the cost and scope of health care benefits.
Ms. Anreder said negotiations would resume this month, although she did not have a specific date.