Negotiators Take Supermarket Talks to Strike Deadline

One hour before a 7 p.m. settle-or-strike deadline, negotiators in the Southern California supermarket labor dispute were still behind closed doors Thursday, struggling to devise a new contract for 80,000 retail clerks and meat cutters.

Spokesmen for the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Food Employers Council, which represents six chains with 800 markets from San Diego to Bakersfield, refused to comment on the negotiations.

Federal Mediator Frank Allen still insisted that a settlement on a three-year contract was possible despite a disappointing 18-hour session that ended after dawn Wednesday.

“I think a compromise can be found,” Allen said, conceding that he is an eternal optimist. “They are looking for a settlement.”

In the wake of the overnight session, the union, which had on three previous occasions negotiated past a strike deadline, set an “absolute” Thursday night deadline.

If no contract was reached, telephone calls would be made at 7 p.m. triggering pickets at Lucky markets, union spokesmen said. Market spokesmen said the other five chains--Vons, Ralphs, Alpha Beta, Stater Bros. and Albertson’s--would immediately respond by locking out their employees. This has long been a matter of protocol in the food industry.

The markets have in past weeks screened and tentatively hired thousands of temporary employees. They say they will be able to continue service by using these workers along with management personnel and non-striking employees.

The Hughes and Boys chains would not be affected by a strike because they have signed agreements with the union promising to abide by whatever contract terms are negotiated with the other six chains.

The last supermarket strike in Southern California occurred in 1985, when meat cutters and drivers struck. The last strike by retail clerks, who make up the largest number of supermarket employees, occurred in 1978. The UFCW attempted to consolidate its bargaining leverage by arranging for the contracts of meat cutters to expire with the retail clerks’ contract this year.

There were no formal negotiations Wednesday. Negotiators slept and then huddled separately to plan strategy. At issue was a complex range of items, from job security to wages to pensions.

Sources indicated that the union was pressing the markets to raise their wage offer, which would now improve salaries by about 3.5% each year, a rate below the pace of inflation.

The union was also seeking a method of slowing the growth of part-time work. About two-thirds of the clerks now work part time, a fact markets say is necessary to adjust to peak hours.