Grocery Strike Averted: Union

The grocery store workers will not be walking out

A deal has been reached between grocery store workers and their employers, according to a local union leader.

The workers will not be walking out, said Mickey Kasperian, spokesperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135.

The two groups worked through the night, past a deadline that union leaders laid out at the beginning of the weekend. Grocery workers’ temporary contracts had expired, and they were hoping to reach an agreement on a new contract with better health benefits.

About 10,000 grocery store workers in San Diego had been working without a contract since March. Union workers voted to authorize a strike last month.

The deal that union leaders proposed to their members Monday at about 11:00 a.m. will provide comprehensive health care and pension benefits to union members and their families, the leaders said.

"The grocery workers of Southern California stood together, strong and united, throughout this long and difficult process. They refused to accept anything less than a contract that protects their wages, benefits and working conditions," the presidents of the UFCW Local Unions in Southern California said in a statement.

Union members will vote to ratify the bargain in the coming weeks. 

In response to the agreement, a spokesperson from the grocery stores said they are satisfied with the tentative deal.

β€œWe are pleased to have reached a tentative settlement agreement with the union that continues to preserve good wages, secure pensions and access to quality, affordable health care – while allowing us to be competitive in the marketplace," said Christie Ly on behalf of Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons.

Details on the agreement made Monday will not be made public until the proposed contract is ratified.
 

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