Southern California Talks Resume

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

LOS ANGELES — Negotiations are scheduled to resume this week — after a one-week break — between three chains and seven locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

The resumption of talks follows a scheduled strike-authorization vote by employees of Supervalu-owned Albertsons, which is intended to increase the union's leverage in the talks, Greg Conger, president of UFCW Local 324, told SN.

“We need to see if we can get these negotiations started, because so far they've just been dragging on at a glacial pace.”

Asked whether workers at Kroger-owned Ralphs or Safeway-owned Vons were scheduled to take strike votes, Conger said, “Not yet. The union has a strategy, which I'm not going to discuss, but right now it entails voting by Albertsons workers only.”

The two sides are negotiating under the auspices of a federal mediator, “and he's done a good job getting both sides to focus on the issues,” Conger said. “But there's stubbornness on both sides.”

The most recent negotiating sessions were held two weeks ago and not last week, at the suggestion of the mediator.

The contract up for renewal — covering approximately 65,000 workers at the three chains — expired March 5. It was initially extended through March 19 and then again last week through April 9, after which the two sides have agreed to extend it on a day-to-day basis until it is canceled by either side following 72-hour written notice or until a new agreement is reached.

The strike vote by Albertsons employees was scheduled to take place yesterday.

In a joint statement announcing the extension through April 9, the three retailers sounded an optimistic note. “Since the last Southern California contract was settled in 2004, we have negotiated dozens of mutually beneficial settlements with UFCW locals in numerous markets across the country, and there is good reason to believe we can accomplish the same here in Southern California,” the statement said.

The 2004 contract was finalized following a 141-day strike-lockout.