The union representing more than 45,000 grocery store workers from Santa Barbara to San Diego voted Wednesday to authorize a strike against supermarket chains Albertsons and Kroger.
No date has been set for a strike.
The United Food and Commercial Workers labor contract expired March 2, and talks have been on-again, off-again after the chief federal mediator was fired earlier this year as part of Trump istration cuts to the federal government.
The union said 90% of its voted yes to authorize their bargaining team to call for an Unfair Labor Practice strike, protesting alleged labor violations by Albertsons and Kroger during the negotiations. An Unfair Labor Practice refers to actions taken by employers or unions that violate the rights of employees or union , as defined by labor laws.
“We remain actively engaged in bargaining with the union because we believe the best outcomes are achieved at the table, not through disruption,” said Salvador Ramirez, a spokesperson with Kroger Co.’s Ralphs, the chain’s largest supermarket unit. “Our current offer reflects that commitment, including market leading wage increases for associates over the life of the agreement, and continued investment in industry-leading healthcare and a pension. These are benefits that many non-union competitors do not offer.”
Albertsons also vowed to remain engaged with the UFCW talks.
“We respect the rights of workers to engage in collective bargaining and remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, good for our customers, and allows our company to remain competitive,” said Courtney Carranza, a spokesperson with Albertsons Cos., which owns Vons and Pavilions.
A separate strike authorization vote is planned with San Bernardino-based Stater Bros. in the coming weeks, UFCW Local 324 President Andrea Zinder said. “Stater has been very difficult at the bargaining table.”
Zinder said the union hopes to get Isael Hermosillo, the 13-year veteran mediator with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, back to the negotiation table. She said he has been kept out of the talks by the federal government, even after the labor unions and supermarket chains agreed to pay him a “per diem” for his expertise.
A freeze on his service was recently lifted, so he likely will be available for the next supermarket talks June 25-27, Zinder said.
“The latest information is that he will be able to participate in late June. He wants to do that,” Zinder said.
Two other chains, Encino-based Gelson’s Markets and Super A Foods, a family-owned supermarket chain based in Commerce that caters to Latino and Asian shoppers in the Los Angeles area, each agreed to extend their labor contracts, which also expired in March. They have historically gone along with the labor contracts negotiated by Albertsons, Ralphs and Stater Bros., Zinder explained.
In total, the five supermarket chains employ more than 65,000 food workers, she said.
UFCW did not elaborate on the unfair labor violations.
Seven UFCW local unions from Santa Barbara to San Diego are working on three-year labor contracts with their respective supermarket chains. Details on what the unions want from the grocery chains are pending, but Zinder previously said that food workers are seeking better pay, affordable health care benefits, a better pension and more staffing.
“For four months, we’ve negotiated with Kroger and Albertsons, offering solutions to the staff shortage crisis that hurts store operations, working conditions, and customer service,” UFCW said in a statement. “The companies have dismissed our proposals and claimed that our concerns were ‘anecdotal,’ downplaying the real challenges we and our customers face daily.
“At the same time, the companies have broken labor laws by engaging in unlawful surveillance, interrogation of at actions, threats, and retaliation for union activity. This is unacceptable.”
