Grocery workers strike delayed Despite reports that...

Grocery workers strike delayed

Despite reports that union supermarket employees were going to

check out for the day, it was business as usual Saturday at area

grocery stores, while officials continued to negotiate the terms of

workers at three popular supermarket chains.

A strike by 70,000 supermarket employees from Albertsons, Ralphs

and Vons was planned for an undisclosed time Saturday afternoon, at

an undisclosed location designed to target just one of the three

chains. As the members of the United Food and Commercial Workers

Union waited for the word to walk out, union officials continued to

negotiate with supermarket officials as an eleventh hour effort to

avoid a strike.

Union representative Ellen Anreder said the major chains are

proposing to cut health benefits for their employees in half. The

companies are also requiring employees to pay higher deductibles,

co-payments and prescription costs.

Anreder said union workers still intend to go through with the

strike at an undisclosed location and time, if an agreement could not

be met. As of Saturday night, talks between the two groups and a

federal mediator broke off in Los Angeles, but no plans for a strike

were announced.