Tentative Pact Between Lucky and Union Averts Grocery Strike

Ending a strike threat that would have affected 235 supermarkets across Southern California, Lucky Stores reached a tentative agreement late Tuesday on a new union contract with its warehouse employees and drivers.

The pact, which would cover 1,700 workers at plants in Buena Park, Fullerton and Irvine, must be ratified by the rank and file. A meeting to vote on the agreement is set for Sunday.

Teamsters Union Local 952 in Orange issued a terse statement saying only that the two sides had come to terms. Its leaders were unavailable for further comment.

Lucky, based in Dublin, Calif., and owned by American Stores in Salt Lake City, also had little to offer in the way of details. “We consider it a fair and balanced offer,” Lucky spokeswoman Judith A. Decker said of the contract. She said the company will not provide any specifics until the agreement is ratified.

The previous contract had expired Monday. Instead of going on strike, however, the Teamsters held off while talks continued with a federal mediator.

Warehouse workers and drivers expressed relief that a settlement had been reached. “It’s been like being on pins and needles,” Brian Hughes, a 12-year Lucky warehouse worker in Irvine, said after learning of the agreement from his union steward. “It’s been hard to sleep. It’s really been nerve-racking.”

Kid Treharne, a supervisor at the Irvine plant, said most workers “don’t have a whole lot of information right now” but are glad negotiations are over. “It’s still a little tense,” Treharne said. “People want to see what’s been agreed to.”

Money was not an issue in the negotiations. Workers expect that the contract will contain the industry standard: a $1.70-an-hour raise over four years. Rather, the main point of contention was job security, which became a concern this summer when American Stores opened a new warehouse in Fontana.

That facility, which also serves the parent company’s Sav-on Drugs subsidiary, is outside Local 952’s jurisdiction. Its workers are covered by another local under a contract that pays them $4.60 an hour less than the $16.60 an hour paid at the Orange County warehouses. In addition, drivers are not included in that contract.

During the summer, Lucky transferred its liquor and wine unit from its Buena Park facility to the Fontana operation, where the same products are handled for Sav-on. The union estimated it lost 22 jobs because the drivers there weren’t union members.

Though no jobs in Buena Park were lost, the Teamsters had feared the company would continue to shift work to other non-union employees. The company had wanted the flexibility to move work among its Southern California warehouses.

Lucky also wanted to change the workweek schedule, which has required the company to schedule employees on five consecutive days a week, giving some Saturday and Sunday off and others Sunday and Monday off. The union was concerned that workers might be assigned non-consecutive days off during the week.

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Times staff writer Don Lee in Orange County contributed to this report.