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Deadline looms for supermarket strike

by Kevin Tripp/KTAR and Colton Shone/KTAR (November 12th, 2009 @ 8:10am)

Less than 36 hours and counting for workers at Fry's and Safeway supermarkets in Arizona to reach agreement on a new contract.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 99 has called a strike by its estimated 25,000 members for 6 p.m. Friday if no agreement is reached. The main sticking point is health care costs.

Fry's spokeswoman JoEllen Lynn said Wednesday that the latest offer includes medical care with no co-premium for current employees and that new hires "would pay premiums of $5, $10 or $15 per week, depending on if they're single, single with children or a family."

Lynn said Fry's is offering a 50-cents an hour raise for some employees, along with bonus gift cards worth up to $500 and an extra $7 million in contributions to the pension fund.

"This offer on the table has no -- zero -- co-premiums whatsoever," Lynn said. "The company will pay the associates' co-premiums."

The union workers have authorized a strike, although some marched outside union headquarters Tuesday, pressing for another vote. A strike preparation meeting was held in Phoenix Wednesday night.

Fry's and Safeway decided this week to stick together, saying that if the union goes on strike against only one chain, the other will lock out its union workers. Both have been hiring replacement workers in case of a strike.

The union said its workers are "fighting for their health care."

Union spokeswoman Ellen Anreder said, "When you see your friends and your neighbors -- the people who serve you in the area supermarkets -- holding a picket sign -- please shop anywhere, but not Fry's or Safeway."

The last grocery strike -- against two subsidiaries of Fry's and Safeway in California in 2003 -- lasted 20 weeks.


Last 5 Comments

  • Reply Abuse Vote
    its ok
    jmassagli
    i will be waiting in the picket line with my local 469 brothers .go ahead cross the picket line :)
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    I'm going to scab at Safeway
    JF
    Just for something to entertain myself on the weekends, I'm applying for every temp position at the Safeway down the street from my house. Making about $10/hr walking around a grocery store is a great way to supplement my $92,000 salary. Plus receiving the gratification of busting a picket line in and listening to the nonsense flowing from the striker's signs and mouths will make for good stories to tell the grandkids at the cabin in Aspen someday while we're talking about what type of business they are starting. I plan on donating my earnings to my favorite charity, hot bartenders.
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    Learn The FACTS
    LrnTheFacts
    The concerns are for the "Third Tier" the grocerers want to implement. New hires (APC) will have to start at min. wage. It will take a new APC 10 yrs to make $12 an hour. The NEW HIRES will have to pay for their health insurance when and IF they eventually qualify...along with co-pays and 20% of any medical treatment that the insurance doesn't pay. New Hires are part-time.
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    No place for Unions anymore?
    nunya b
    You are so right! Walmart, the largest employer in America, with revenues greater than the GDP of many countries in the World, offers starting workers pay of $100k per year, early retirement benefits after merely 20 years of service at 85% of current salarly levels. Walmart also lavishes it's employees with a fully-employer paid comprehensive health care plan which covers employees and their dependents. In addition, Walmart employees enjoy one month or more of paid vacation, 20 paid sick days per year plus paid holidays, employer provided day care.
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    The Union doesn't do anything for you?
    nunya b
    Union Workers with Guaranteed (Defined-Benefit) Pensions: 68%, Non-Union: 14% (Union Advantage 386%) Union Workers with short-term disablity benifits: 62%, non-union: 35% (Union Advantage: 77%) Union Workers average days of paid vacation: 15 days, non-union: 11.75 days (Union Advantage: 28%) SOURCE: US Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2006
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