AS TALKS GO ON, GROCERY STRIKERS HOPEFUL, LEERY.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

Supermarket executives and union leaders enter their 10th day in a row of federally mediated talks today - the longest continuous meeting since the strike began - leaving downtrodden pickets optimistic that a settlement could be brewing.

Despite a media blackout that has kept the content of the negotiations secret, the mere duration of the bargaining session has experts thinking that an end could be near.

``To have those types of discussions, you have to be in the same church if not in the same pew,'' said Harley Shaiken, a professor of labor relations at University of California at Berkeley.

``The fact that they are meeting at all, let alone for this long, is clearly a positive sign - it indicates that they are close enough to have something to talk about. It doesn't tell us how close the settlement is. It's significant, but how significant is difficult to tell.''

Of the 59,000 United Food and Commercial Workers that are either on strike or locked out, some have already defected from the picket lines to go back to work or find jobs elsewhere.

But those who remain do so with guarded hope that their lives will soon return to normal.

``Every day when I get here, the first thing they ask me is, Are they still talking?'' said Barby Dougherty, 54, the picket captain at a Mission Hills Vons and a 25-year employee of the company. ``I'm hoping that this means they are serious this time and they really want to come to an agreement, but we don't want to get our hopes dashed again.''

Dougherty is not alone in her skepticism.

``It's not good - our lines are getting so thin to where there's nobody out there at night. You pretty much just want to give up with the uncertainty, find something else and just walk away,'' said Greg Rader, 52, of Frazier Park, a 22-year employee of Ralphs.

``But there's a big glimmer of hope and my understanding is that the grocery companies brought us back to the table and asked for the mediator.''

The 132-day strike has lasted through several attempted federal interventions. The latest talks were prompted after the companies rejected a union offer to enter binding arbitration.

Company officials responded to the offer with a request to return to mediations.

Peter J. Hurtgen, the head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, has traveled to Southern California a handful of times to personally broker a settlement.

``Director Hurtgen is encouraged by the continuation of the discussion. Certainly, no progress can occur unless the parties are talking,'' said agency spokesman John Arnold.

The labor dispute began Oct. 11 after workers for Vons and Pavilions stores went on strike in protest of a contract offer from the companies. The next day, Albertsons and Ralphs stores locked out their workers. In all, 59,000 workers were assigned to picket lines at nearly 900 stores from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com