Union Plans Protest in Ralphs Labor Dispute

The union representing employees of Ralphs Grocery Co. says it will escalate a heated labor dispute by holding a protest demonstration at Bullock’s Westwood store next Wednesday. Bullock’s, like Ralphs, is a subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores.

The announcement was made the same day that Federated Chief Executive Howard Goldfeder declined a union invitation to intervene in the dispute.

“We believe arbitration is the proper forum for the resolution of these disputes,” Goldfeder said in a telegram to union officials. “While we believe the contract is being correctly followed, as we have indicated, Ralphs will abide by the arbitrator’s finding,” Goldfeder added.

Layoffs, Demotions

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union has charged that Ralphs, the region’s largest retail food chain, has laid off or demoted 1,800 workers in the last 16 months in violation of its contract. The company has replaced veteran cashiers with younger, less experienced employees whose wages are generally $4 an hour less those of the people they replaced, according to workers who were laid off.

Ralphs has said it has laid off only 173 workers, but company officials acknowledged that many others have been shifted to lower-paying positions. The company also states that its conduct is perfectly legal and that it has to cut labor costs to stay competitive.

The Bullock’s protest had been planned before Goldfeder announced that he would not meet with Ricardo Icazza and John Sperry, presidents of two large locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers that represent about 70% of Ralph’s hourly employees. “Had Goldfeder agreed to meet with us, though, we might have postponed the demonstration,” said Bob Bleiweiss, a spokesman for Sperry.

‘Informational Picket’

Icazza said the purpose of demonstrating at Bullock’s was to emphasize that Ralphs is part of a conglomerate, not just a Southern California store. He said that the demonstration would be an “informational picket” and that, at this point, the union would not be urging customers to boycott Bullock’s or Ralphs.

However, he said, “we’re not ruling out any economic activity, including a strike or a boycott,” even though such activity is prohibited by the union’s contract with Ralphs. “We would feel justified because the company has violated the agreement,” Icazza said.

Referring to the Bullock’s demonstration, Jan Charles Gray, a Ralphs vice president, said: “We do not feel it’s an appropriate way to resolve the differences between us.” He said Ralphs is awaiting the resolution of the “contract-language dispute by a neutral arbitrator.”

Gray said this week that Ralphs will begin “recalling about 40% of the people laid off because of an increase in business.”

Arbitration in the dispute is scheduled for Aug. 19 and 20. Last month, the Food and Commercial Workers unsuccessfully asked a federal judge for a temporary restraining order that would have barred further layoffs and demotions until the arbitration was held.

Icazza said the union expects to win the arbitration but said the results are unlikely to be announced until December. “This is unreasonable to someone who is about to lose his house when he’s been laid off illegally,” Icazza said.

Letters to Customers

As a result, he said, the union is continuing to picket Ralphs stores and is sending letters to potential Ralphs customers, urging them to tell store officials that they think the company’s policies are unfair.

Earlier this week, Gray said in an interview that Ralphs is considering filing charges against the union because one of its business agents at a rally held last week urged people not to shop at Ralphs. Gray added that Ralphs expects to win the dispute in arbitration.

A spokeswoman for Bullock’s said the department store had no comment on the planned demonstration.