This Cell-Off Was Ill-Timed

Can you hear me now?

Supermarket union leader Rick Icaza complained Tuesday that chief federal mediator Peter J. Hurtgen did not return his calls that afternoon, as he tried to find out when contract negotiations with the grocery chains might resume.

On Wednesday, Icaza said Hurtgen told him there had been a good reason: His cellphone was on the fritz.

John Arnold, spokesman for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, confirmed that Hurtgen’s phone had been giving him trouble.

Still, Arnold said he was “a little mystified” by Icaza’s complaints, noting: “We’re in touch with folks from both sides.”

Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, said that after catching up with Hurtgen, he was hopeful the talks to end the 6-week-old strike would restart before Thanksgiving.

It was unknown whether Hurtgen -- who recently mediated a labor accord at Verizon Communications Inc. -- was trying to get a new phone.