From a UFCW Affiliate to its members:
Over the past several days, Southern California supermarket workers have been voting on a contract offer from three of the largest supermarket operators in the country -- Albertson's, Vons/Pavilions (Safeway), and Kroger (Ralphs). Working together, these companies have attempted to impose a package of severe cuts in benefits. In addition to demanding that employees give up health benefits for themselves and their families, the companies have attempted to set up a "second tier" of wages, benefits, and working conditions for new employees, in effect making them second-class citizens in the workplace.
Our sister union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), represents some 70,000 supermarket employees in Southern California (and 1.4 million workers nationwide, making it the largest private-sector union in the nation). Eighty-five percent of eligible workers voted on the proposed contract, and the vote to reject the proposals and authorize a strike against these supermarket chains was higher than 97 percent. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, has issued a strike sanction, and vowed to join UFCW workers in fighting to protect their health benefits.
Accordingly, the UFCW announced today that it will strike one of the major supermarket chains, beginning tomorrow, Saturday, October 11. "We will limit our job action to a single chain, so we will limit inconvenience to our customers," the union said. The union is asking the other supermarket operators to remain open and in full operation, but there is concern that they will initiate a "lockout" by closing their doors in retaliation for the strike against another company. A final meeting with a federal mediator is scheduled for 2 p.m. today. If that meeting is unsatisfactory, UFCW said it will announce the time and target of the strike immediately afterwards.
This is every worker's fight. If the highly profitable supermarkets are able to cut health benefits for grocery workers, then no employee's benefits are safe. What begins with grocery workers can quickly travel elsewhere, and it needs to be stopped now, before it does. Our friends in the UFCW have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us over many years, and now it is our privilege to stand side-by-side with them.
If the strike proceeds:
1. Please do not cross a union picket line to shop at a supermarket subject to the strike. (If the strike occurs, it will affect Ralphs, Vons/Pavilions, OR Albertson's.)
2. If you shop at one of the two targeted supermarkets that is not directly subject to the strike, please urge them to stay open and avoid any "lockout" of employees or customers, in retaliation for the strike.
3. The following supermarkets are not involved in the dispute, and are listed by UFCW Local 770 (Los Angeles) as recommended alternatives: Food 4 Less, Stater Bros., and Gelsons/Safeway. A complete list of recommended alternatives is at:
http://ufcw324.org/altshop.html#Los%20Angeles4. There will be opportunities to assist supermarket workers directly, such as by joining in a picket line, or providing other appropriate support. The grocery workers must not lose this fight!
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