Supermarket Strike Talks Continue Into the Night : Labor: Negotiators agree to ‘stop the clock’ and bargain beyond midnight deadline. Federal mediator says he is optimistic of settlement with 80,000 workers.

Buoyed by conciliatory signals, negotiators in the Southern California supermarket labor dispute agreed late Monday to keep bargaining through the night, temporarily averting a strike for the second time in the past two weeks.

Ten locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers, representing 80,000 supermarket clerks and meatcutters at 800 stores, had threatened to strike at midnight if agreement on a new three-year contract was not reached with representatives of the six largest chains.

But as the night wore on, spokesmen for both sides, as well as a federal mediator overseeing the talks began to express glimmers of optimism.

Finally, at 10:30 p.m., union representatives agreed to “stop the clock” and talk past their deadline.

Negotiations since Friday had produced little apparent progress by Monday afternoon, spokesmen said. As has often been the case in food industry labor talks, both sides were believed to be engaging in “crisis bargaining”--holding back full-fledged compromises until the last minute in the hope the other side would cave in first.

“There has been some continuing progress,” mediator Frank Allen said late Monday. “I certainly feel they can come to an agreement.”

“I don’t think anybody wants a strike. We’re prepared to be here all night,” said David Willauer, spokesman for the Food Employers Council, which represents the Vons, Ralphs, Alpha Beta, Lucky, Stater Bros. and Albertson’s chains.

Union spokesmen were less enthusiastic, threatening to strike if the extended talks break down. However, spokesman Bob Bleiweiss acknowledged that “the talks have become substantive.”

Progress began Monday when the two sides reached a compromise on one key issue, the markets’ use of prepackaged meat as opposed to those cut and wrapped in the market by union members. Details were not released.

Earlier Monday, the union said it planned to strike Lucky, the No. 2 chain in Southern California and the largest market operation in the state

Representatives of the other five chains said they would immediately respond to a strike against Lucky by locking out their UFCW employees.

Union members had been working without a new contract since the old one expired July 30.

Officials of the Food Employers Council, which negotiates on behalf of the six chains, said they had been making preparations for a possible strike for weeks and were not bending on issues they described as critical to their competitiveness.

The markets have interviewed, screened and trained thousands of strikebreakers, who have been placed on call. The markets have also stocked their warehouses with extra amounts of fast-moving merchandise.

Food Employers Council spokesman David Willauer said that if a strike occurs, the markets will be staffed by a combination of strikebreakers, managers and workers willing to cross picket lines.

Jim Stephenson, director of the Food Industry Management program at USC, predicted that a strike of up to a month’s duration would not significantly disrupt the markets or customers. Supermarkets “have fooled with strikes so long they seem to handle it pretty well. No one will have to hoard their pantries. It’s not like a gas shortage. The markets have integrated the handling of strikes into their management systems,” he said.

In past strikes, the union has picked a target chain, and the other chains have responded by locking out their workers.

Southern California executives of the Teamsters said that in the event of a strike by 73,000 clerks and 7,000 meatcutters, workers who drive delivery trucks will stop at picket lines, forcing the markets to use additional personnel to drive and unload the trucks.

The Hughes and Boys chains, which also employ UFCW members, would not be affected by a strike because they have signed interim agreements to accept whatever settlement is reached.

The last Southland supermarket strike occurred in 1985, when meat cutters and drivers struck. Retail clerks last struck in 1976.

Like many recent strikes throughout the country, money has become a secondary issue compared to concerns of job security and health benefits.

Supermarket clerks now earn between $4.25 and $13.05 an hour. Meat cutters earn from $9.31 to $14.33 an hour.

The most recent offer made public by the supermarkets would provide three-year raises of between 9.8% and 10.7% to journeymen employees. The average collective bargaining agreement negotiated during the first half of 1990 contains an 11.4% increase over three years.

Union leaders said “take-aways” in the proposal are far greater than the financial gains. They said the markets want to raise the number of work hours each week before entry-level clerks can become eligible for health benefits, allow lower-paid clerks to take over duties now performed by higher-paid workers and expand the use of non-union vending companies.

Following a national trend, the markets also want to limit the flexibility of current medical benefits programs.

Willauer said the union was falsely portraying the markets’ intentions. He said vendors already work extensively in markets and the markets had simply requested contract wording to reflect that. Willauer has portrayed the markets as under intense pressure to hold costs down to compete with non-union companies, particularly warehouse-style markets that pay lower wages.

Union leaders say the markets are exaggerating their problems and in some cases created them by heavy borrowing.

Industry analysts say the six chains are generally healthy.