Grocery Workers Reject Contract Offer
Union workers at 294 Safeway and Albertson’s stores in Northern California rejected management’s “last, best” offer Monday, but failed to authorize the first strike at the stores in more than six years.
More than 61% of the workers who cast ballots voted against the proposed pact. But the union needed at least two-thirds of the workers to vote against the contract offer to strike.
The development leaves the negotiations in limbo. Federal mediator Greg Lim asked both sides to return to the negotiating table today, and the labor unions immediately agreed.
“We believe now, more than ever, it’s time for both sides to come back to the bargaining table to find a peaceful resolution,” said Ron Lind, spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
If management refuses to return to the table, labor leaders said they may urge a consumer boycott of the Safeway and Albertson’s stores involved in the negotiations.
A total of 27,000 workers are affected by the vote.
The grocery chains offered a $1.50 per hour raise spread over three years that would have boosted the average wage of the store workers to $17 per hour. Labor leaders wanted a $2.40 per hour raise during the three-year contract period, as well as more guaranteed hours for part-time workers.
The grocers, citing competitive threats from discount chains expanding into the business, say they can’t afford to meet the union’s demand. With a pay scale ranging from $7.75 to $17.58 per hour, the Northern California workers already are among the country’s best-paid retail clerks, according to the chains.
The store workers insist they deserve more because of the San Francisco Bay Area’s high cost of living. A mid-priced home in the Bay Area sold for $476,000 in August, a 66% increase from 1997, when the store workers signed their last contract.
Pleasanton-based Safeway last faced a strike at its Northern California stores in 1995, when the workers walked out for nine days. The strike cost Safeway about $6 million in profit. A 47-day strike at Safeway’s Northern California distribution center last year reduced the chain’s earnings by $66 million.
