UPDATE: Grocery Strike Averted

Update, Monday, noon: After a negotiating marathon that ran all night and into this morning, both sides announced a tentative agreement that averts a strike. The pact still must be voted on by rank-and-file union members.

Update Sunday, 7:45 p.m.: Negotiations continued past Sunday's 7:10 p.m. deadline and supermarket workers remained on the job.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged both sides to work out a deal: "At a time of persistently high unemployment, poverty and foreclosures, the last thing we need is a devastating strike that will make it more difficult for thousands of workers to put food on the table for their families, pay their mortgages and afford other basic necessities,'' he said. "The ripple effect will further damage our local economy."

Original Posting

Officially, negotiations to head off a supermarket strike are getting nowhere, but some observers spotted hopeful signs Sunday.

Clerks at Ralphs and Vons supermarkets in Santa Monica said neither chain had reduced deliveries of fresh baked goods, produce, milk and meat to stores. The clerks, who didn't want their names publicized, said the fresh deliveries of perishables might indicate that management expects stores to stay open.

"We've heard that, and I think that does mean something,'' said union spokesman Mike Shimpock. "And if [management officials] start to move in the negotiations, we intend to stay at the table'' and not call a strike, he said.

Otherwise, a walkout could begin at 7:10 p.m. Sunday, the deadline set by union reps for 62,000 grocery store clerks in Southern California. It was unclear if we will see clerks leaving the job at Belmont Shore's involved stores, which flank our community at 2nd and Pacific Coast Highway, Marina Pacifica, Bellflower and PCH, to name most.

Health insurance benefits are a major point of contention, with Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons offering a package that union officials say would run out of money in 16 months. Under the most recent offer, workers would pay about $36 a month for individual health insurance, or $92 per month for family coverage. The company contribution to that has not been disclosed.

Negotiators are also reportedly far apart on pay rates.

"They're sitting on their piles of cash, and they're throwing us quarters,'' Shimpock told City News Service. The union claims the three chains made $1.5 billion in profits last year, and distributed $500 million to stockholders.

All three chains continued to solicit replacement workers Sunday. Ralphs said it would initally close all of its stores if a strike is called.

And Minnesota-based Albertsons expanded on an earlier statement that it might close up to 100 stores in the event of a strike. Spokeswoman Christie Ly told City News Service that the fate of the chain's 124 remaining stores "cannot be discussed."

Vons hasn't made clear whether it would keep stores open with replacement workers and management.

During a 141-day lockout in 2003-04, the chains lost an estimated $1.5 billion.