CLERKS VOTE TO PACK IT IN, ENDING 139-DAY STRIKE.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

At polls throughout Southern California Saturday and Sunday, 59,000 grocery clerks voted resoundingly to ratify a new employment contract, ending the longest and largest grocery strike in the history of the nation.

Settlement of the 20-week strike late Sunday paves the way for workers to return to more than 850 Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons markets later this week.

The three-year contract - approved by 86 percent of the membership - will preserve health and pension benefits for current employees but impose deep cuts to the compensation of all future clerks.

``Workers in the labor dispute were fighting to protect affordable health care, their pensions and job security. These three goals were accomplished in the new agreement indicating the workers' struggle and sacrifice were worthwhile,'' according to a statement released by the United Food and Commercial Workers union Sunday night.

Although UFCW leaders hailed the ratification of the contract as a victory, experts say the introduction of a two-tier compensation structure could undermine the integrity of employment in the supermarket industry.

``These are pretty far-reaching cuts for the new hires,'' said Harley Shaiken, a professor of labor relations at the University of California at Berkeley. ``The supermarkets will seek to use this as a pattern elsewhere, but they will not necessarily succeed.''

Supermarket officials issued a joint statement in response to the ratification vote. California's three largest chains lost an estimated $2 billion in sales due to the 139-day labor dispute.

Supermarket officials have argued that lowering employment costs is a necessity as competition from stores like Wal-Mart and Costco increases in Southern California.

Sunday night, clerks around Los Angeles expressed relief that the strike has finally come to an end after 139 days. However, the employees realized the damage caused by the implementation of the two-tier plan, which could eventually encourage the grocery companies to replace older workers with a less expensive work force.

``I feel sad about the two-tier system. I think it's unfair to the people who will be hired because they will be doing the same jobs as us,'' said Barby Dougherty, a Vons cashier in Mission Hills who has worked in the industry for 26 years.

``But I also feel that we gave 200 percent to keep that out, and I am very relieved that it's over.''

While current workers will not see much impact in the areas they feared would be hit - such as health benefits and pensions - ``new hires'' will be in a completely different class of benefits and wages.

For example, new employees must wait one year for medical benefits, and their families must wait 30 months.

New clerks' wages will top out at $15.10 an hour, rather than the current maximum salary of $17.80.

And company contributions to new hires' medical plans will be reduced by more than 75 percent.

Experts have argued the two-tier structure could set a precedent for supermarket contracts expiring this year everywhere from Washington, D.C., to Northern California and serve to drive down health benefits in other industries as well.

But Shaiken said the union's efforts in Southern California, and the problems that could arise from the two-tier plan, could discourage the companies from proposing this plan elsewhere.

``Two-tier plans can cause conflicts in the workplace where you have people working side by side at very different rates of pay and benefits,'' Shaiken said. ``The Achilles' heel for the markets is that this could set up a dynamic where new negotiations will focus on pulling the second tier up rather than bringing the upper tier down.''

Last week, John Kerry campaigned at a Santa Monica Vons and said the supermarket strike is a signal for national health care reform.

The strike began Oct. 11 after union leaders and supermarkets locked horns during contract negotiations. Ninety-seven percent of the membership voted to strike.

Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com