GROCER, UNION AGREE ON CONTRACT FOOD 4 LESS DEAL AVERTS COSTLY STRIKE.Byline: Candice Choi Staff WriterCOMPTON - Food 4 Less reached a tentative contract with its union workers Friday, bringing an end to several months of heated negotiations and averting another costly 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, supermarket strike. ``The union is pleased that we were able to come to a tentative agreement without having to take economic action,'' said Ellen Anreder, spokeswoman for the 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 . Just two weeks ago, a majority of the 5,700 employees working for Compton-based Food 4 Less rejected the grocer's last contract proposal and authorized a strike. The deal comes just months after 59,000 grocery clerks at more than 850 Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons 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. a new contract in March, ending the longest and largest grocery strike in U.S. history. The strike and lockout lockout, intentional closing up of a company, factory, or shop by an employer to prevent employees from working during a strike or labor dispute. The term lockout lasted more than four months, costing employees jobs and lost wages during the holidays and the companies millions of dollars. The key issues in the Food 4 Less contract, as with the three leading grocers last fall, centered around the company's proposed decreased health care benefits for current employees and lower wages and benefits for new hires, said UFCW UFCW United Food and Commercial Workers spokeswoman Barbara Maynard. Neither she, nor Terry O'Neill Terry O'Neill may refer to:
The seven locals of the UFCW will recommend 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 agreement to their members Oct. 4; a vote will take place the same day. Unionized employees have been working under an expired contract since late February, when their three-year contract ended. Earlier this month, Kroger, which operates 300 Ralphs in addition to 101 Food 4 Less markets in Southern California, reported quarterly earnings that were $50 million lower than the year-ago same quarter, which the company attributed to lingering losses from the strike. Candice Choi, (818) 713-3634 candice.choi(at)dailynews.com |
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