Grocery workers across Southern California are preparing to strike against Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions — the region’s first in decades — unless a final round of negotiations next week can yield better pay, improved staffing and other benefits.
More than 45,000 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, who stock and serve about 500 stores in the region, voted on June 11 to authorize a strike.
While it did not disclose the results, union leaders say the vote was “overwhelmingly” in favor of a strike.
The vote comes as negotiations between seven UFCW chapters and Kroger, parent company of Ralphs, and Albertsons, which owns Vons and Pavilions, have been ongoing for months.
They are scheduled to meet three more times between June 25 and 27. If these end without an agreement, union officials say a strike can be called immediately.
“This action is to show the companies that we’re fed up and ready to do what it takes,” said Jenna Thompson, a spokesperson with UFCW Local 324, which represents about 12,000 grocery workers in Long Beach, Whittier, Downey and Orange County.
In separate emailed statements, representatives for Ralphs and Albertsons both said they’re negotiating in good faith and hope to reach an agreement before any work stoppage.
According to Dylan Boyke, a baker at an Albertsons in Westminster and union negotiator, the two sides have met nearly a dozen times since Feb. 13, when talks began ahead of the contract’s expiration on March 2.
The contract covers checkers, baggers, meat-cutters and other workers from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, including those employed by Ralphs, which is owned by Kroger Co. of Cincinnati; Vons and Pavilions, owned by Albertsons of Boise, Idaho. Albertsons, meanwhile, is owned by Cerberus Capital Management of New York, N.Y. Workers are also employed at Stater Bros., Gelson’s and Super-A stores.
According to Boyke, the two sides are still far apart on issues of health benefits, pensions and wages for newer hires.
Workers say wages — which range between $16.25 and $26.75 an hour — are too low to afford today’s cost of living. Stores are also understaffed, Boyke said, as deli sections are forced to close early and check out lines snake around the store.
In an email, Ralphs spokesperson Salvador Ramirez said the company’s current offer includes “market-leading wage increases for associates over the life of the agreement, and continued investment in industry-leading healthcare and a pension. These are benefits that many non-union competitors do not offer.”
But on Friday, as UFCW Local 324 members rallied outside a Ralphs in Long Beach, one worker said she is routinely the only clerk on the checkout line, leading to a line of customers “beyond my eyesight.”
“There’s not enough people to do the job that’s required,” Boyke added. “… Obviously, where there’s money involved, that’s where the sticking points are.”
The UFCW also wants to maintain the premier medical plans that distinguish the union and were won through decades of strikes and hard bargaining. But it takes too long, they say — six to eight months — for new hires to access benefits.
And the pension, meanwhile, has not been increased since 2004, due to federal restrictions. The plan, workers say, is to tack on a secondary pension plan to supplement the cost of retirement.
“Or members can’t live on what the pension is,” said Andrea Zinder, a grocery worker of 40-plus years and lead negotiator. “They can’t retire in dignity.”
The union has also filed complaints against the chains to the National Labor Relations Board, alleging worker surveillance, intimidation and retaliation against union members.
Jose Espinoza, a labor negotiator since February and supermarket clerk of 27 years, said he was recently transferred from Long Beach to Redondo Beach without a replacement.
The new location is 20 miles away, outside of his chapter and into a union that doesn’t have a bargaining seat. The decision doesn’t sit right with him, he said, considering he was denied a local transfer last month. He starts at his new post on Monday.
“In my 27 years with the company, I’ve never seen this happen once,” he said.
Albertsons and Ralphs both said they’re committed to a fair collective bargaining process.
“We respect the rights of workers to engage in collective bargaining and remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, good for our customers, and allows our company to remain competitive,” said Courtney Carranza, director of communications and public affairs for Albertsons’ Southern California Division.
Espinoza and others say they’re ready for a strike. Members will receive strike benefits ranging from $100 to $1,500 a week for walking picket lines, depending on their position.
Other unions threw their support behind the UFCW, including Teamster delivery drivers, telling members who work in the stores not to cross picket lines in the event of a strike, Thompson said.
“Striking is always our last resort,” Thompson said. “We don’t want to go on a strike, but we will.”
The last major Southern California grocery strike lasted 141 days in 2003 and 2004, roiling the region’s supermarkets and costing the chains a combined $1.5 billion in sales. It kickstarted the fortunes of alternatives like Trader Joe’s or Costco, and left union strikers with staggering debts through the winter holiday season.
A UFCW strike was averted in 2022, in a deal made in the final hours of negotiations.
According to Zinder, who said she’s helped negotiate at least 10 contracts in her tenure, this time is no different from the last time. If a deal is reached, she added, it’ll be in the final hours.
“We remain actively engaged in bargaining with the union because we believe the best outcomes are achieved at the table, not through disruption,” Ramirez, the Ralphs spokesperson, said.