No Word From Talks by Markets, Union
Contract talks between major supermarket chains and the grocery workers union resumed under a federal mediator Monday afternoon, but it was unclear whether any progress was made toward ending the monthlong strike and lockout.
Representatives of both sides said they had agreed to maintain a news blackout as a condition of rejoining the talks, which were called by Peter J. Hurtgen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, at an undisclosed location.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Dec. 6, 2003 FOR THE RECORD
Los Angeles Times Saturday December 06, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 41 words Type of Material: Correction
Supermarket strike -- In its coverage of the supermarket strike and lockout that began Oct. 11, The Times has said repeatedly that the labor dispute affected 859 union grocery stores in Southern and Central California. In fact, 852 stores are affected.
“All I can say is negotiations occurred as scheduled, and we’re very hopeful of getting a settlement sooner rather than later,” said John Arnold, a spokesman for the service. He would not say whether the talks would continue today.
Going into the talks, neither the grocers nor the union had signaled a change in position on the key issues of health-care coverage and a lower pay and benefits package for new hires.
On Oct. 11, the United Food and Commercial Workers union launched a strike against Safeway Inc.’s Vons and Pavilions stores in Southern California and parts of Central California. The next day, Kroger Co.’s Ralphs and Albertsons Inc. locked out their union workers in a show of solidarity. The three companies bargain jointly.
About 70,000 workers at 859 stores are affected by the strike and lockout, with picket lines remaining at Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons stores. The union pulled pickets from Ralphs stores Oct. 31 to focus pressure on the other chains.
To firm up support for the strike heading into the high- volume Thanksgiving shopping season, Los Angeles unions staged a large rally at an Albertsons in San Pedro on Monday night. Organizers estimated that 6,000 members of various unions, including a large contingent from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, participated.
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On February 12, 2004 the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which had stated repeatedly that 70,000 workers were involved in the supermarket labor dispute in Central and Southern California, said that the number of people on strike or locked out was actually 59,000. A union spokeswoman, Barbara Maynard, said that 70,000 UFCW members were, in fact, covered by the labor contract with supermarkets that expired last year. But 11,000 of them worked for Stater Bros. Holdings Inc., Arden Group Inc.’s Gelson’s and other regional grocery companies and were still on the job. (See: “UFCW Revises Number of Workers in Labor Dispute,” Los Angeles Times, February 13, 2004, Business C-11)
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