Meat Cutters Target Vons for Picketing; Talks Go On

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, representing 10,000 unionized meat cutters in Southern California, today selected Vons, with 183 stores across the area, as its initial picketing target.

The chains involved, besides Vons, are Albertson’s, Alpha Beta, Boys, Foods Co., Hughes, Lucky, Pioneer, Ralphs, Safeway and Stater Bros. They represent about 80% of the supermarkets in Southern California, and a looming strike by meat cutters and 12,000 grocery warehousemen, drivers and office workers represented by the Teamsters Union could affect as many as 12 million consumers.

Three chains, Gelson’s, Mayfair and Big Bear, have signed interim contracts and would not be struck.

Last-Ditch Session

A last-ditch bargaining session to forestall a midnight strike of 1,125 Southern California supermarkets was called this afternoon between negotiators for supermarket employees and the 11 food chains facing the walkout.

Union sources said the final session, aimed at avoiding a strike at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, will be supervised by Frank Allen of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, who has been trying to prod both sides toward a resolution during weeklong bargaining talks at the Breakers Hotel in Long Beach.

Today’s session, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., will include only representatives of the Teamsters Union. Representatives of the meat cutters will sit in on the session, but it was unclear whether they would join in the talks later.

“We would not finish our contract unless the meat cutters are able to conclude theirs,” saied Jerry Vercruse, chief negotiator for the Teamsters, reflecting the two unions’ intention to coordinate bargaining and strike plans.

‘Cautiously Optimistic’

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” he said. “We’re optimistic whenever we have meetings. . . . We’ll have meetings as long as we’re having meaningful discussions and making progress.”

If the 12:01 a.m. strike deadline arrives and both sides are still talking, the decision on whether to go ahead and put up picket lines would depend on how much progress has been made in negotiations, Vercruse said.

Ballots tabulated from strike votes taken around the Southland indicated that, of those voting from the locals’ combined 22,000 membership, 98.5% supported a strike.