October 24, 2009 05:47 PM UTC

Still Awaiting Grocery Strike News

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Grand Junction Sentinel updates:

Union workers are asking for reinstatement of many benefits, which include early retirement, subsidies and death benefits, as well as a 35 cents an hour raise, said Laura Chapin, a spokeswoman for United Food and Commercial Workers No. 7.

“The companies are using the recession as an excuse to cut wages and benefits,” Chapin said.

A call to the UFCW’s No. 7 employee information line tells workers that negotiations broke down Oct. 20. The workers’ old contract expired in May.

“The workers made impassioned pleas for the last best and final offer,” according to the recording. “Workers passed the motion to start the strike as soon as the final strike sanctions are released from the international union. … It could be as early as a day or two.”

Chapin said the local union is awaiting word from union lawyers in Washington, who are reviewing the details of the Safeway workers’ vote to strike. Once the lawyers sign off on the vote, workers will be notified that the strike is on…

“We are concerned with the direction this is going and we certainly hope there isn’t a strike because no one will win on any side,” said Diane Mulligan, King Soopers spokeswoman.

She added that the mutual strike assistance agreement – when one grocery chain will lock out its union employees if another chain’s employees goes on strike – is optional.

But if Safeway workers walk, and Soopers/City Market bars union employees, the grocery stores will remain open.

“We have temporary workers on standby and have since May,” Mulligan said. “Our customers should not see any difference in their shopping experience.”

That last bit makes you wonder–how many replacement workers do you think have been idling on “standby” since May? Given Colorado’s falling unemployment rate, we wouldn’t count on all of them. But at least management has the weekend to find out who’s still available to cross picket lines after all these months, and you’ll have the weekend to get your shopping done.