Grocery chains’ latest offer still under scrutiny by union
Healthcare the main sticking point
As hundreds of grocery workers and their supporters rallied to push for a new contract, the three major grocery chains released details of their latest healthcare proposal that they claim would hold the line on costs but require employees to pay $9 a week for single coverage.
The cost of family coverage under the proposal would be $23, according to officials for Ralphs, Albertsons and Vons.
The latest healthcare proposal was presented to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 on Tuesday. The union’s membership voted in April to authorize a strike, but the workers were expected to hold another strike authorization vote as early as next week in response to updated contract proposals.
The grocery employees’ previous contract expired March 6, but they have continued to work under the terms of the previous pact. The union and grocery companies have reached an agreement on pension issues, but wages and healthcare costs still need to be resolved.
Union officials said previous proposals from the grocers would have resulted in a 50 percent pay cut for workers, since their healthcare costs would skyrocket. They claim the increased costs for workers would come as the grocery chains pull down billions of dollars in profits.
Union workers rallied outside of three Ralphs locations yesterday.
According to the grocery chains, the latest healthcare proposal includes an increase in company contributions to the healthcare fund. It would also maintain the current prescription drug co-payments and the annual deductible and out-of-pocket maximums in the PPO plan.
The companies also proposed to continue offering an HMO option.
Negotiations between the United Food and Commerical Workers Union and grocery stores are scheduled to resume Monday with the help of a federal mediator in the hopes of avoiding a strike.
Southland grocery workers and union officials staged a rally this week in another push for a new contract, stressing they do not want to go on strike, but they will if they don’t believe they are receiving fair labor offers from the owners of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons.
Last week, an overwhelming majority of the 62,000 grocery workers voted to authorized a strike.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Southland grocery workers and union officials staged a rally today in another push for a new contract, stressing they do not want to go on strike, but they will if they don’t believe they are receiving fair labor offers from the owners of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons.
Last week, an overwhelming majority of the 62,000 grocery workers voted to authorized a strike.
Workers from Vons, Ralphs, and Albertsons grocery chains will gather to prepare and train picket captains this week as the workers’ union gears up for a strike authorization vote on Friday.
The sticking point between the grocery workers and the chains is healthcare.
“The healthcare proposal they have given us essentially increases the premium deductible and out-of-pocket costs, and it strips down a lot of the healthcare plan,” said Mike Shimpock, a spokesman for UFCW, Local 770, in Los Angeles.
Civil Rights Activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Wednesday lent his support to Southern California grocery workers who staged a protest action at a Ralphs store on the Crenshaw strip.
Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), who have been working without a new contract since March 6, may be asked to authorize a strike during meetings Friday, if their negotiators cannot reach an agreement with executives from the grocery chains.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The union representing thousands of Southern California grocery workers voted to authorize a strike, leaders announced today, but the union would be required to give stores a 72-hour warning if they decide ask workers to walk off the job.
Negotiators plan to be back at the bargaining table next week.
