CLERKS VOTE ON CONTRACT HARD-FOUGHT DEAL GETS MIXED REVIEWS.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer VAN NUYS - Expecting to return to their jobs as soon as Wednesday, striking Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, grocery clerks began voting Saturday on a new contract that contains no raises but preserves their benefits while relegating new employees to lower salaries and reduced health coverage. Some workers criticized union leaders for coming away from a strike that has lasted nearly five months with a contract they said might have been won earlier or without a walkout at all, while others were excited at the prospect of returning to their jobs with their pensions and medical benefits protected. United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing approximately 1.4 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including agriculture, health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile and officials released a fact sheet at polling locations providing details of the contract for the first time and insisted they had achieved their primary aims. Voting will end today with approval expected, allowing workers to return to work at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons starting Wednesday, and ending the longest and largest strike in the history of the United States “American history” redirects here. For the history of the continents, see History of the Americas. The United States of America is located in the middle of the North American continent, with Canada to the north and the United Mexican States to the south. grocery industry. ``There are one or two things that are monumental and historic in this deal: preserving health care and pensions,'' said UFCW UFCW United Food and Commercial Workers spokeswoman Ellen Anreder. ``There is no way we would've gotten these things "These Things" is an EP by She Wants Revenge, released in 2005 by Perfect Kiss, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Music Video The music video stars Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage. Track Listing 1. "These Things [Radio Edit]" - 3:17 2. if it weren't for the strength and courage of the people on those picket lines.'' Others were skeptical and experts said the outcome of the strike likely will lead to a major restructuring of the economics of the grocery industry nationwide. ``The bottom line is that it's very clear that new hires are getting a raw deal and that current workers' benefits are being protected. That's really clear,'' said E. Richard Brown Richard Brown can refer to:
UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Center for Health Policy Research. ``Frankly, it sounds like management is extracting from new hires the costs of protecting the benefits for existing employees.'' The fact sheet given 59,000 union members from San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. to Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. conveyed a sense of victory for the union, explaining how current workers will continue to receive free health care coverage for the first two years of the contract and may have to pay only a small amount in the final year of the contract. The supermarkets' original contract proposal would have canceled all future pension accruals Accruals Accounts on a balance sheet that represent liabilities and non-cash-based assets used in accrual-based accounting. These accounts include, among many others, accounts payable, accounts receivable, goodwill, future tax liability and future interest expense. , whereas the accepted plan will preserve 65 percent of the employees' previous accrual accrual, n continually recurring short-term liabilities. Examples are accrued wages, taxes, and interest. rate. The contract includes no wage increases. Current employees, however, will receive two lump sum Lump sum A large one-time payment of money. bonuses, one 30 days from the ratification The confirmation or adoption of an act that has already been performed. A principal can, for example, ratify something that has been done on his or her behalf by another individual who assumed the authority to act in the capacity of an agent. of the plan and one in March 2006. The bonuses will be equivalent to 30 cents for every hour an employee worked in the last year. Deep within an extensive packet given to employees, the tentative agreement outlines several major concessions the union made within a second-tier contract for ``new hires.'' For example, newly hired employees will have to wait one year to get any medical benefits and their families will have to wait 30 months. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Brown, plans like that could lead to supermarket employees seeking public coverage, essentially getting taxpayer subsidized sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. health care. ``It's a terrible plan for new hires in this bottom tier because it means that people can't get family coverage at all for two and a half years and that's really extraordinary. A high-class employer would say 30 days. A year is a long time,'' Brown said. ``This will set a pattern. The companies were using the Southern California strike to set the pattern for other contract negotiations in Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern and elsewhere in the country, where benefits have been near the same level.'' Another contract detail referred to in the union's abbreviated fact sheet is that newly hired clerks' wages will top out at $15.10 an hour, rather than the current maximum salary of $17.80. Also, company contributions to new-hires' medical plans will be significantly reduced. Daniel Mitchell, a professor of management studies at UCLA's Anderson School Anderson School may refer to:
``It is significant for what it doesn't say. It doesn't get into what the second-tier health plan is going to be. The two-tier component is the most critical element of the whole deal,'' Mitchell said. However, union officials have argued that the main objective of the strike was to ensure that funding for health care and pension benefits were not separated into two pools, one for new hires and one for current employees, as the companies initially proposed. Separating the pools would have compromised the plans, they said. ``The employers wanted a separate fund for current employees and new hires. That would have led to the elimination of health care,'' Anreder said. At polling locations throughout Southern California, the UFCW urged its members to ratify ratify v. to confirm and adopt the act of another even though it was not approved beforehand. Example: An employee for Holsinger's Hardware orders carpentry equipment from Phillips Screws and Nails although the employee was not authorized to buy anything. the deal. ``All seven Southern California UFCW local unions unanimously recommend a 'yes' vote on proposed contract,'' a bold note at the bottom of the fact sheet reads. Thousands of clerks lined up to cast their ballots in an auditorium at Los Angeles Valley College LAVC redirects here. For the software library, see libavcodec. The university is adjacent to Grant High School. Often called "Valley College" or simply "Valley" by those who frequent the campus, it opened its doors to the public on September 12, 1949, at which time the campus was , where the immediate reaction to the contract was mixed. Some were glad to see their wages and benefits protected, but others expressed anger over the two-tier plan and the way the information was presented. ``I think it fits fine for people employed now, but the new hires will have lower wages in the future,'' said Ray Rossling, a 22-year veteran of a Burbank Vons. ``It's just going to lower the standard - that's what the company wants, they want a Wal-Mart.'' Howard W. Swerdlick, a clerk who retired after 38 years in the industry, was outraged. ``The contract is not being explained to the people in there,'' said Swerdlick, 67, of West Hills. ``I am 100 percent in favor of the union, but this is a mess that is totally out of control ... they could've voted for this from Day One.'' Another clerk said she would have stayed on the picket lines longer to fight for a better deal. ``We could've done better and that's why I voted no,'' said Donna Pallett, an employee at a Woodland Hills Ralphs. But Rossling said that anything to end the strike would have been passed. ``Overall, it's good because people want to get back to work.'' And according to Mitchell, the union likely won all that it could have without risking a complete collapse. ``The union wants the thing ratified rat·i·fy tr.v. rat·i·fied, rat·i·fy·ing, rat·i·fies To approve and give formal sanction to; confirm. See Synonyms at approve. , so they're not going to say we signed a horrible deal, so why don't you vote for it ... from their perspective, this was the best deal they could get,'' Mitchell said. The strike, which has lasted for 139 days, will officially end upon a majority vote to ratify the new contract. Unless the membership votes down the contract, picketing at hundreds of stores throughout southern California is now over. The strike began Oct. 11 and in the end took a federal mediator and 16 consecutive days of negotiation for the two sides to finally agree on a deal Thursday. Nicholas Grudin, (661) 257-5255 nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com How will the end of the supermarket strike affect: SHOPPERS: With the new contract likely to be ratified over the weekend, shoppers can expect regular supermarket workers to return to their jobs as soon as Wednesday and for the grocers to try to gear up normal operations Generally and collectively, the broad functions that a combatant commander undertakes when assigned responsibility for a given geographic or functional area. Except as otherwise qualified in certain unified command plan paragraphs that relate to particular commands, "normal operations" of as quickly as possible. GROCERS: With the loss of more than $2 billion during the nearly five-month strike, supermarkets are expected to advertise heavily and offer steep discounts in an effort to win back their customers. WORKERS: Workers got no raises but will receive a ratification bonus equal to 30 cents per hour worked in the previous year and a second lump sum bonus in March 2006, equal to 30 cents per hour worked in the previous year. In the first two years of the contract, employee health insurance premiums will not go up. However, in the third year of the contract, employees will pay $5 to $15 per week for coverage. Pension accruals - which the companies hoped to eradicate - will set at 65 percent of their previous level. NEW HIRES: Future supermarket clerks will top out at $15.10 an hour rather than the current maximum salary of $17.80. The wages of newly hired meatcutters will top out at $16.38 per hour compared with a current maximum of $19.18 per hour. They will have to wait one year to get any medical benefits and their families will have to wait 30 months. Company contributions to new hire medical plans will drop to $1.10 per hour worked while current employees will get $4.60 per hour. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: (color) Sheridan Roberts, a cashier CASHIER. An officer of a moneyed institution, who is entitled by virtue of his office to take care of the cash or money of such institution. 2. The cashier of a bank is usually entrusted with all the funds of the bank, its notes, bills, and other choses in at Ralphs, reacts Saturday to a fact sheet issued by the grocery workers union explaining the new contract Roberts and her co-workers were to vote on. David Sprague/Staff Photographer Box: How will the end of the supermarket strike affect: (see text) |
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