Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
California Grocery Workers Accept Deal, Averting Strike
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
April 5, 2022

Share

 

A strike by tens of thousands of central and southern California grocery employees was averted Monday after the workers’ union reached a tentative deal with several major supermarket chains.

The new three-year contract includes higher wages, stronger health benefits, guaranteed hours for part-time workers, improved store safety and a secured pension, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said in a statement.

Strike Authorized Last Week

The union said exact details won’t be released until its members vote on the deal starting this week.

“This is a great agreement that will help turn grocery store jobs around and make tangible improvements in our lives,” said Rachel Fournier, a cashier at a Los Angeles Ralphs store and a bargaining committee member.

About 47,000 workers at hundreds of Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores voted last week to authorize a strike if an agreement wasn’t reached. They include grocery clerks, meat cutters, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians represented by seven locals of the UFCW.

Officials with Kroger, which owns Ralphs, and Albertsons, owner of Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores, didn’t immediately comment on the agreement.

The previous three-year contract expired March 6. Employees were asking for a $5-an-hour raise, among other proposals.

The union previously said that during negotiations it emphasized the essential role grocery workers played during the coronavirus pandemic.

Employees of Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons in 2019 voted to authorize a strike, but contracts ultimately were reached without a walkout.

A 2003-04 strike and lockout put nearly 70,000 Southern California grocery workers on picket lines for more than four months.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Used Popular Game ‘Among Us’ to Exploit Minor Pled Guilty

DON'T MISS

Fresno Nonprofit CEO Sandra Celedon Files to Run for Assembly

DON'T MISS

Ontario Slaps 25% Tax Increase on Electricity Exports to US in Response to Trump’s Trade War

DON'T MISS

Bakersfield Man Who Made Bomb Found Near Community Pool Pleads Guilty

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Attorney Janz Launches Probe Into Attack Campaign Mailer

DON'T MISS

New Atmospheric River Expected to Boost Sierra Snowpack

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Two and Seize 15 Firearms in Gang-Related Investigation

DON'T MISS

The Populist vs. the Billionaire: Bannon, Musk and the Battle Within MAGA

DON'T MISS

LA District Attorney Says He Won’t Support Resentencing the Menendez Brothers

DON'T MISS

Study Tells CA Legislators to Declare War on Red Tape. Will They Do It?

UP NEXT

Trump Fertilizer Tariff Exemption Comes as Farmers Prep for Season

UP NEXT

Which US Companies Are Pulling Back on Diversity Initiatives?

UP NEXT

Powell: Federal Reserve to Stay on Hold Amid Widespread Economic Uncertainty

UP NEXT

US Employers Add a Solid 151,000 Jobs Last Month Though Unemployment Up to 4.1%

UP NEXT

Walgreens Agrees to Be Acquired by Private Equity Firm for Almost $10 Billion

UP NEXT

Community Health Shakeup Eliminates 285 Nursing Positions, Creates 350 More

UP NEXT

National Boycott Over DEI Rollbacks Puts Target Under Fire During Lent

UP NEXT

Cowboys Restructure Prescott and Lamb Deals, but Any Impact on Free Agency Is Murky

UP NEXT

European Central Bank Cuts Rates Again as Threat of Trade War Weighs on Economy

UP NEXT

Macy’s Q4 Is Mixed and Its 2025 Outlook Is Tempered by Tariffs and Leery Shoppers

Bakersfield Man Who Made Bomb Found Near Community Pool Pleads Guilty

11 hours ago

Fresno City Attorney Janz Launches Probe Into Attack Campaign Mailer

11 hours ago

New Atmospheric River Expected to Boost Sierra Snowpack

12 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Two and Seize 15 Firearms in Gang-Related Investigation

14 hours ago

The Populist vs. the Billionaire: Bannon, Musk and the Battle Within MAGA

14 hours ago

LA District Attorney Says He Won’t Support Resentencing the Menendez Brothers

15 hours ago

Study Tells CA Legislators to Declare War on Red Tape. Will They Do It?

15 hours ago

Visalia Men Arrested for Homicide After Deadly Attack at Apartment Complex

15 hours ago

Visalia Head-On Crash Kills One, Leaves One Injured

15 hours ago

Washington Post Columnist Quits After Her Opinion Piece Criticizing Owner Is Rejected

16 hours ago

Fresno Man Used Popular Game ‘Among Us’ to Exploit Minor Pled Guilty

A Fresno man pleaded guilty Monday to sexually exploiting a minor, admitting he coerced a 15-year-old in Missouri into sending explicit imag...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

Fresno Man Used Popular Game ‘Among Us’ to Exploit Minor Pled Guilty

11 hours ago

Fresno Nonprofit CEO Sandra Celedon Files to Run for Assembly

People wave flags and hold signs during a protest outside of the U.S embassy in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
11 hours ago

Ontario Slaps 25% Tax Increase on Electricity Exports to US in Response to Trump’s Trade War

11 hours ago

Bakersfield Man Who Made Bomb Found Near Community Pool Pleads Guilty

11 hours ago

Fresno City Attorney Janz Launches Probe Into Attack Campaign Mailer

12 hours ago

New Atmospheric River Expected to Boost Sierra Snowpack

Fresno police arrested two suspects, Jesus Cardenas, 26, and Frank Alvarez, 40, and seized 15 firearms during a long-term investigation into illegal firearm manufacturing and trafficking, with two suspects still at large. (Fresno PD)
14 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Two and Seize 15 Firearms in Gang-Related Investigation

14 hours ago

The Populist vs. the Billionaire: Bannon, Musk and the Battle Within MAGA

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend