Union Authorizes Strike Vote Against Major SoCal Supermarkets

LOS ANGELES, CA — Negotiations between grocery store workers and Southern California supermarket chains have stopped, and a union representing workers authorized a strike vote Thursday.

The voting will take place between March 21 and March 26, according to Bertha Rodríguez, the communications coordinator for United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770. The union is one of seven representing some 60,000 grocery workers in more than 500 Ralphs and Vons/Pavilions/Albertson stores from the Central Valley to the Mexico border.

The decision to put the vote to the workers comes after weeks of heated negotiations. On Sunday, a three-year-old labor contract between the grocery workers and supermarkets expired, and the two sides remain far apart.

Sticking points include pay raises and safety protections, according to Manny Estrada, a pharmacy clerk at a Grover Beach Vons store and a member of the Local 770 bargaining committee.

"Sitting in the room and looking at these people who I am employed by, it's shocking to see that there is no empathy on their end," Estrada said. "Our average worker made $29,000 for the year. We have a Kroeger CEO who is making $22 million a year. He makes 437 times the average grocery worker."

According to Estrada, the union is asking for $5 raises over time, but the grocery stores capped their offer at 60 cents.

Ralphs issued a statement Thursday saying, "We have three very clear objectives; to put more money in our associates paychecks, keep groceries affordable for our customers and to maintain a sustainable future for our business. By working together, we win together."

The company statement added: "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."

The Union, however, accused the companies of stalling,

"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 Thursday. "The corporations representing the stores offered pennies, a proposal that would ultimately be a pay cut due to inflation."

Last week, the union posted a message on Twitter saying that despite the failure to reach an agreement, the terms and conditions of the previous contract are still in effect.

"When we began negotiations with Ralphs and Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions in January, we came prepared with comprehensive proposals and a clear path toward negotiating a contract that reflects your value and the sacrifices you have made," the union said last week in a series of tweets to its members.

"We are disheartened to inform you that Ralphs and Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions squandered the unique opportunity to propose a contract with better wages and benefits in a time of immense profit. They have failed."

At the time, Ralphs issued a statement saying its stores will remain open and staffed even though the labor contract expired.

"It's unfortunate that substantial progress toward reaching an agreement was not made during our 12 total days of bargaining with the union," said Robert Branton, vice president of operations at Ralphs. "While the company made several wage proposals, the union continues to propose very costly items which impacts our ability to meet customer needs and remain competitive.

"Negotiations are a process and we're committed to reaching an agreement no matter how long it takes," Branton added. "We are hopeful the union will return to the bargaining table with renewed interest in reaching a balanced agreement."

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.

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.

As a Vons pharmacy clerk, Estrada, the bargaining committee member, said his store alone made $373,000 in profits from administering 100 COVID-19 vaccines per day for more than five months. It was a grueling pace that employees did on top of their regular duties.

The bargaining committee members shared stories of co-workers lost to the coronavirus as essential workers continued to do their jobs throughout the pandemic, a scary time when grocery chains thrived.

"To not see any emotion other than a stone-cold face is disheartening," Estrada said. "It really makes you realize you are working for someone whose bottom line is their profit."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on the Los Angeles Patch