After months of stalled contract negotiations, grocery workers at Albertsons, Vons and Ralphs stores voted Wednesday to give union leaders the authority to call a strike.
Members of seven United Food and Commercial Workers union locals voted "overwhelmingly" to allow a strike, labor leaders said, though they did not immediately provide a tally of the votes.
The decision itself does not trigger a strike, but gives the union leverage to call a walkout whenever it wants.
Employees are still working under a three-year contract that expired March 3.
The vote comes nearly 16 years after the largest and longest grocery strike in U.S. history occurred in Southern California, when tens of thousands of workers picketed outside Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions and Ralphs stores for more than four months. Overall, the companies in the labor dispute lost a combined $1.5 billion in sales.
Similar issues are at stake today as the chains try to keep labor costs down amid increased competition from nonunion grocers that benefited largely during the 2003 strike, such as Trader Joe's, Costco and Walmart.
Wage increases of less than 1% and funding changes to healthcare plans are among the union's concerns with the proposed contract. Union and grocery chain leaders will meet again for negotiations from July 10 to 12, a Ralphs spokesperson said.
In Southern California, Albertsons Cos., including its namesake supermarket as well as Vons and Pavilions, have a combined 342 stores and 29,000 unionized employees. Kroger-owned Ralphs has 190 stores and 17,000 unionized employees.
Albertsons and its affiliated grocers constitute the largest player in the Southern California/Las Vegas region, with 19.8% of the market. Kroger, which includes Ralphs and Food 4 Less, is next at 18.6%, according to the Shelby Report, a publication that tracks the industry.
However, if a strike is called, shoppers would have more options today than they did 16 years ago.
Walmart Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Target Corp. now have sizable grocery sections, and discount chains Aldi and Grocery Outlet have opened stores in the region. Whole Foods Market _ now owned by Amazon.com Inc. _ is still an option, as are Trader Joe's, Gelson's Markets, Sprouts and Stater Bros., along with ethnic and organic markets.
