Grocery Workers Contract Update

Just in from the UFCW:

Last Wednesday, in the middle of negotiations and with no notice whatsoever to our union negotiators, Ralphs, Albertsons and Vons announced to the press their intention to punish their workers and customers by locking out all of their employees if a limited strike is called against any of the markets.

Despite this needless provocation and attempt to intimidate us, we are still committed to working out our differences and getting an agreement at the bargaining table. That is why we agreed to resume negotiations with the employers after a cooling-off period suggested by the federal mediator.

Ultimately, we consider the employers' threats and intimidation a sign of desperation. They know that public opinion and momentum are on our side, and this latest move is simply a heavy-handed attempt to shift blame.

The chains used the same tactic of locking out employees during the last strike. Pretty interesting that they appear to understand the concept of strength through unity, no? But even more interesting is how the UFCW is counteracting this:

The Markets: "Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons are each negotiating individual contracts with each of the seven UFCW locals -- a total of 21 separate contracts."

The Truth: UFCW is negotiating with each of the markets separately to prevent them from forming potentially illegal “mutual aid pacts” like they did in 2003, a scheme still under investigation by the California Attorney General. The claimed 21 separate meetings are unnecessary and the markets demanded this as a delaying tactic. Stater Bros. and Gelsons negotiated fair contracts with UFCW without meeting each local separately, and if they could do it, so can Albertsons, Vons and Ralphs.

We know that April 9 is the day that the contract extension runs out. We'll have to wait and see what transpires in this weekend's contract talks before we know if there will be another strike.