GROCERY WORKERS MAY STRIKE

East County News Service

June 19, 2016 (San Diego) – United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 President Mickey Kasparian has announced that Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons grocery store workers will hold a strike vote on Monday on whether or not to strike. 

The vote could result in a work stoppage throughout Southern California and affect more than 60,000 workers.

According to the union, the contract proposal is filled with concessions and would drastically impact workers’ take‐home pay, and devastate their health care coverage.

“Once our members see this insulting proposal, I am confident that we will have overwhelming strike authorization,” Kasparian said.

The contract between the Workers and the Grocery Stores expired more than three months ago. According to the UFCW, Albertsons/Vons makes $7.7 million in profits a week. Ralphs makes $69 million in profits a week.

City Times reports that Ralphs spokesperson Kendra Doyel called a strike authorization “premature” adding that it “only serves to cause concern for associates and customers.” She has indicated Ralphs hopes to reach an agreement with workers, adding, "We encourage union leadership to return to the table on our agreed-upon upcoming dates and work out an agreement that is good for our associates and allows us to remain competitive in the market."

The last strike over a dozen years ago in 2003 and 2004 opened the door for competitive retail  chains such as Trader Joe’s,  Baron’s Market, Costco and Whole Foods to grow their market share.