Thousands of grocery workers across Southern California have voted to authorize their union to call a strike amid continued contract negotiations with the owners of stores including Ralphs and Vons/Pavilions/Albertsons, union officials announced.

“Over the past week, you and your fellow Ralphs, Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions members have made your voice heard by overwhelmingly voting to authorize your bargaining committee, made up of your union and fellow co-workers, to call for a strike if needed,” United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770 officials posted on the union’s website late Saturday.

Representatives of the grocery store chains have not commented on the union vote. The vote includes about 800 Long Beach grocery workers.

Voting began Monday, but the “yes” vote does not automatically result in a strike—it only authorizes the union to call one if no progress is made in labor negotiations.

Roughly 47,000 workers represented by seven UFCW union locals between Central California and the Mexico border were eligible to cast ballots. The membership covers workers at more than 500 stores.

Union officials announced earlier this month that contract talks had stalled. A three-year-old labor contract between the unionized grocery workers and Southern California supermarkets expired March 7, raising fears of a possible strike.

“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 earlier this month.

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

Ralphs responded with a statement noting that “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.”

“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,” according to Ralphs. “By working together, we win together.”

A March 27 statement from Ralphs spokesman John Votava said the grocery chain believes “no one wins in a strike.”

“A nine-day strike in January by UFCW members working at King Soopers and City Market locations in the Denver metro area ended with UFCW Local 7 settling for $9 million less for its members than what the company proposed in its last, best and final offer before the strike,” said the statement.

Grocery employees are continuing to work under the terms of the previous contract.

Ralphs has said its latest proposal includes investments in wages of more than $141 million over the next three years, while not increasing healthcare costs for associates.

“We will continue to do everything we can to balance investments in wages and overall well-being of associates while keeping food affordable for our customers,” Robert Branton, vice president of operations at Ralphs, said in the statement. “Our current offer adds to our associates’ paychecks, while providing them with premium healthcare coverage and a company funded pension—which many of our competitors do not offer.”

Ralphs says it pays an average hourly wage of $19 an hour, with more than half of associates having been with the company for more than 10 years, and more than one-third having been with Ralphs for more than 20 years. Ralphs also provides healthcare benefits and a pension for retired associates.

“Ralphs has always been and continues to be a workplace where our associates come for a job and stay for a career,” Branton said.

Union officials said they are seeking a $5-per-hour wage hike, along with bolstered safety standards and “adequate scheduling and hours.” According to the union, the grocery stores offered only a 60-cent-per-hour wage increase.

“Frontline grocery store workers continue to bear the brunt of the COVID pandemic and post-pandemic effects,” according to the union. “More than 10,000 UFCW 770 employees have been infected with COVID, many more lost co-workers, friends and family members. Supermarket employees are overworked, underpaid and undervalued while grocery companies stack huge earnings—Kroger alone made $4 billion in profits in 2021.”

Local 324 President Andrea Zinder said that the proposed raise hike is unacceptable.

“A 60 cents a year raise doesn’t even cover the rising expenses for essential workers who risked their lives to keep their communities fed,” said Zinder in a March 21 email. “Kroger’s CEO makes over 22 million a year and the company made over $4 billion in profits during the pandemic on the back of essential grocery workers. Our members are just asking for a fair contract with a living wage that recognizes their dedication and sacrifice for these grocery corporations and the companies have responded by trying to intimidate workers and undermine our negotiations. Workers are fed up with how their employers are treating people they once heralded as heroes.”

Ralphs spokesperson Votava said in a March 21 email that negotiations resume March 30. Ralphs, however, has already begun hiring temporary workers so that operations may continue in the event of a strike, he said.

“As a provider of affordable fresh food and other essentials we have an obligation to the communities we serve to keep our stores open should there be a work stoppage,” said Votava. “As such, we are hiring temporary workers for all locations and the number of applicants we have received will allow for us to deliver on this promise.” 

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.

Staff writer Brandon Richardson contributed to this story.

Grocery workers voting this week on whether to authorize strike