SoCal grocery workers begin voting whether to authorize strike
Thousands of Southern California workers for grocery stores including Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons will begin voting Monday on whether to give their union permission to call a strike amid continued contract negotiations.
Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union said votes will be cast over several days, with results expected to be announced this coming Sunday, March 27.
A "yes" vote would not automatically result in a strike. It would only authorize the union to call one if no progress is made in labor negotiations.
Roughly 47,000 workers represented by seven UFCW union locals between Central California and the Mexico border will be casting ballots. The membership covers workers at more than 500 stores.
A three-year-old labor contract between the unionized grocery workers and Southern California supermarkets expired March 7.
"Bargaining committees composed of front-line grocery workers and union leaders came prepared with proposals that would fairly increase wages and improve store conditions to reflect the needs of workers in a pandemic and post- pandemic world," the union said in a statement earlier this month. "The corporations representing the stores offered pennies, a proposal that would ultimately be a pay cut due to inflation."
Workers are seeking a raise in $5-an-hour, similar to the "hero pay" they were making during the worst days of the coronavirus pandemic. In return, the supermarkets offered a 60 cent increase.
"The company can and should pay more," said Mary Mueller-Reicher, a Ralphs cashier. "They can afford it. They make billions of dollars in profit."
Ralphs responded with a statement noting that "a strike authorization vote doesn't mean a strike will happen, but it does create unnecessary concern for our associates and communities, at a time when we should be coming together in good faith bargaining to find solutions and compromise. At Ralphs we remain focused on settling a deal with the UFCW."
Grocery employees are continuing to work under the terms of the previous contract.
"It's not enough, not with the rate of inflation," said Kimberly Sisson, a United Food and Commercial Workers representative.
Ralphs issued a statement Sunday indicating additional negotiations were planned to resume March 30. The company's latest proposal includes investments in associate wages of more than $141 million over the next three years. The proposal would not require increases in healthcare costs for associates.
On Monday, Ralphs Vice President of Operations Robert Branton also issued a statement which read in part, "our current offer adds to our associates' paychecks while providing them with premium health care coverage and a company funded pension - which many of our competitors do not."
Ralphs says it pays an average hourly wage of $19 an hour, with more than half of associates having been with the company for more than 10 years, and more than a third having been with Ralphs for more than 20 years. Ralphs also provides healthcare benefits and a pension for retired associates.
In 2003-04, Southland grocery store workers walked off the job over a contract dispute, and the strike lasted 141 days. That work stoppage was estimated by some analysts to have cost the supermarket chains as much as $2 billion, with the workers losing $300 million in wages.
Workers are prepared to repeat history if an agreement can't be reached.
"We're tired of being used and abused at the stores for minimal pay," Sisson concluded. "We're fed up and it's time for us to fight."
During the last round of negotiations in 2019, grocery workers voted to authorize a strike but negotiations continued for two months, and a labor deal was eventually reached, averting a walkout.
(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)