Tweet
I don't know, I find this bizarre.
2 hours, 23 minutes ago
By PAUL CHAVEZ, Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES - Three major supermarket chains said Sunday they plan to hire temporary workers to keep hundreds of stores open as more than 70,000 grocery clerks in Southern California began a strike.
Clerks at Kroger Co.'s Ralphs, Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Albertsons grocery stores went on strike late Saturday after negotiations between union representatives and store officials broke off, with health care coverage a key sticking point.
Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union initially said strikers would only target Vons stores and urged the companies not to lock out workers from the others.
The supermarkets, however, said a strike against one company would be considered a strike against all three. In a joint statement, they said Albertsons and Ralphs would lock out employees during the dispute.
Plans were in the works to "ensure that stores remain open and staffed," the statement said. Sandra Calderon, a spokeswoman for Vons, said those plans include using temporary workers.
Clerks began picketing outside Vons markets late Saturday after last-minute negotiations involving a federal mediator broke down.
The companies operate about 900 stores from San Diego to Santa Barbara and control 60 percent of the Southern California market.
The union called on Southern Californians to honor picket lines and shop elsewhere. Under their contract, warehouse employees and truck drivers can also choose not to cross picket lines, said Paul Kenny, president of Teamsters Local Union No. 630.
Grocery clerks work a minimum of 24 hours a week, with 70 percent working part-time. They earn, on average, about $15 an hour, said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles and one of the negotiators.
Vons president Tom Keller said the chains' contract proposal does not call for wage reductions and asks employees to pay $5 a week for individual health care coverage and $10 to $15 a week for an entire family.
The union wants the companies to maintain health care plans and provide raises of 50 cents an hour the first year and 45 cents an hour the following two years, Icaza said.
The last time the grocery workers went on strike was 1978, with the walkout lasting less than a week.
2 hours, 23 minutes ago
By PAUL CHAVEZ, Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES - Three major supermarket chains said Sunday they plan to hire temporary workers to keep hundreds of stores open as more than 70,000 grocery clerks in Southern California began a strike.
Clerks at Kroger Co.'s Ralphs, Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Albertsons grocery stores went on strike late Saturday after negotiations between union representatives and store officials broke off, with health care coverage a key sticking point.
Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union initially said strikers would only target Vons stores and urged the companies not to lock out workers from the others.
The supermarkets, however, said a strike against one company would be considered a strike against all three. In a joint statement, they said Albertsons and Ralphs would lock out employees during the dispute.
Plans were in the works to "ensure that stores remain open and staffed," the statement said. Sandra Calderon, a spokeswoman for Vons, said those plans include using temporary workers.
Clerks began picketing outside Vons markets late Saturday after last-minute negotiations involving a federal mediator broke down.
The companies operate about 900 stores from San Diego to Santa Barbara and control 60 percent of the Southern California market.
The union called on Southern Californians to honor picket lines and shop elsewhere. Under their contract, warehouse employees and truck drivers can also choose not to cross picket lines, said Paul Kenny, president of Teamsters Local Union No. 630.
Grocery clerks work a minimum of 24 hours a week, with 70 percent working part-time. They earn, on average, about $15 an hour, said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles and one of the negotiators.
Vons president Tom Keller said the chains' contract proposal does not call for wage reductions and asks employees to pay $5 a week for individual health care coverage and $10 to $15 a week for an entire family.
The union wants the companies to maintain health care plans and provide raises of 50 cents an hour the first year and 45 cents an hour the following two years, Icaza said.
The last time the grocery workers went on strike was 1978, with the walkout lasting less than a week.
.
The the company wants to save mony cut the big-wigs paychecks, not the workers.
Someone's handing you a pile of manure. --Especially when the clerks are getting only $15 on average 
Comment