Southern California Supermarket strike of 2003-2004

The Southern California Supermarket Strike of 2003-2004 was a strike among supermarket workers in Southern California. The walkout lasted for twenty weeks.

Overview

On the labor side, the primary party was the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) although deli workers were represented by UNITE HERE and also struck. On the management side, it involved the supermarket chain companies Albertsons LLC, Ralphs (owned by Kroger) and Vons (owned by Safeway).

On October 11th, 2003 employees of Vons went on a strike action. The employers all had agreed to lock out their workers if any member of the employer association was struck by the unions. Over 70,000 union workers went on strike or and 900 stores affected throughout southern California. Fact|date=April 2007

Causes

As Wal-Mart began aggressively opening stores in California, other supermarket chains claimed they were able to undercut local prices because they were non-union and the employees were all new hires. This put pressure on the existing unionized grocery stores to lower their operating costs.Fact|date=December 2007

The unions saw this as a race to the bottom wherein these companies “demanded separate health and pension plans for current and future employees.” However, according to the UFCW, this would have “resulted in the effective elimination of healthcare retirement benefits for workers” [http://www.ufcw.org/hold_the_line/facts_and_news/scali_vote.cfm] .

Impact

For over four months, 70,000 union workers throughout Southern California thousands stood outside of stores, and along streets to picket and protest the corporations. Many workers camped out in front of stores. As the UFCW appealed for community support, many customers began to support the cause by honoring a boycott of the 900 stores on strike. “Customers refused to cross the line; with an average of 75% of customers shopping elsewhere amounting to estimated loses of more than $2 billion for the companies (UFCW.org)” Fact|date=April 2007.

Despite the heavy economic losses in the region, the grocers saw the dispute as an investment to bring their costs in line with non-union competitors. Grocery chains used to be largely regional, but with consolidation had turned national and could afford losses in one area. Indeed, during the course of the dispute, UFCW members remained working under contract with the same employers in other areas of the country.

Two-Tier Settlement

On February 26th, 2004 union members voted 86% to ratify an agreement with a two-tier system. Both sides claimed victory:

The trade unions won the following conditions for current employees:
* Affordable health care benefits for new and current workers with no weekly employee premiums in the first two years, and only nominal payments if needed, in the third year.
* Employer contributions of nearly $190 million to re-build the health plan reserves.
* A combined pension fund for new hires and current employees .
* A wage payment averaging about $500 in the first and third years of the contract (UFCW.org)”.

The employers won the following conditions for future employees they hire:
* Lower base salaries.
* Eliminated time and a quarter pay for Sundays.
* Longer work period required before earning benefits.