GROCERY WORKERS IN LAST-DITCH TALKS.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer Major supermarkets across 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, are bracing for a possible strike by their 70,000 employees this weekend, even as a federal mediator tries today to get the two sides to seek a compromise. Three of the region's largest grocery chains and their employees will meet with a federal mediator today in a last-ditch effort to avoid the strike against Ralphs, Vons and Albertson's. The final tally on (Naut.) to dovetail together. (Naut.) to man a rope for hauling, the men standing in a line or tail. See also: Tally Tally a two-day strike authorization vote by members of 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 union will be announced this morning. Early results indicate overwhelming approval for a strike, which would have at least a temporary benefit for stores unaffected by the labor dispute. Supermarkets plan to stay open though with a scaled-back operations and smaller grocers throughout the area are gearing up for increased business. ``If there is a strike, people want to be serviced and they want to find the product on the shelf,'' said Rose Aguilar Rose Aguilar is an American journalist and political from San Francisco. Aguilar currently hosts Your Call, a daily public affairs radio show on NPR-affiliate KALW 91.7 FM. , director of human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. for Vallarta Supermarkets. ``In this business, people have to eat.'' Smaller grocers like Vallarta and even warehouse clubs like Costco Wholesale, which do not face the threat of strike, are ramping up their inventories and staffing in preparation for heavy weekend business, as shoppers are expected to be redirected and deflected de·flect intr. & tr.v. de·flect·ed, de·flect·ing, de·flects To turn aside or cause to turn aside; bend or deviate. [Latin d by picket lines. ``We got a directive to order two times as much,'' said Eddie Rojas, the grocery manager at Gelson's Market in Calabasas. ``What we've heard is that there will be people standing outside of Vons and Ralphs telling them to go shop at Gelson's.'' Jack Brown, the president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Stater stat·er 1 n. A resident of a particular state or type of state. Often used in combination: Lone Star staters; farm staters; the struggle between slave staters and free staters. Noun 1. Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . markets, noted the most recent supermarket strike was 25 years ago so most shoppers have never faced the inconvenience and shortages they cause. ``There's a whole generation of shopper who has never seen a supermarket strike or supermarket pickets,'' Brown said. ``There will be less selection and the inconvenience of crossing a union picket line.'' Stater Bros. is adding extra staffing to its corporate office this weekend to coordinate supplemental inventory deliveries if necessary, Brown said. ``We'll be in hourly contact with our 157 stores to be sure we don't need anything extra,'' he said. Ralphs, Vons and Albertson's have pledged to keep their nearly 900 stores open if there is a strike, but service could be limited. ``We've been accepting applications for temporary work - more than 19,000 applications. Of course none of those people will be hired unless there is a strike,'' said Terry O'Neil, a spokesman for Ralphs. ``We encourage the union to come back to the bargaining table to make a concerted effort to work with us and avoid a work stoppage stoppage - /sto'p*j/ Extreme lossage that renders something (usually something vital) completely unusable. "The recent system stoppage was caused by a fried transformer." ,'' O'Neil said. Employees plan to set up picket lines to encourage shoppers to go instead to stores that are not being struck. The leading supermarket chains and their employees remain far apart on wage differences for veteran employees and retirement benefits, but the key hang-up is a proposed shift in the amount employees contribute to health coverage. ``They're looking to cost-shift hundreds of millions of health care dollars onto the backs of the workers,'' said Ellen Anreder, a spokeswoman for six of the seven union locals. ``There is a glimmer of hope that something might happen in these afternoon talks.'' Nicholas Grudin, (661) 257-5255 nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com |
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