No further comment until the details of the agreement are released.
February 27, 2004
Negotiators reached a deal Thursday night that could end the California supermarket strike and lockout, a bitter fight that highlighted the national debate over how much companies should pay for workers' healthcare coverage.
After 16 straight days of bargaining, the deal was struck in a conference room at a hotel in Orange County. Neither side would provide details.
People close to the talks said the supermarkets scored victories in their bid to cut labor costs and curtail spending on health benefits — in large part through a two-tier system under which new hires would earn less per hour and receive skimpier health benefits than veterans — but the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said the proposed contract "preserves affordable healthcare" and job security for its members.
Pickets won't immediately drop their signs and return to their old jobs. The pact must be ratified by the tens of thousands of UFCW members who until last October had worked at 852 Vons, Pavilions, Ralphs and Albertsons stores in Central and Southern California.
The voting is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, and the results probably will be tallied by Sunday night, according to the joint statement by the seven UFCW locals in the dispute.
UFCW leaders have agreed to recommend that the contract be ratified, and approval is expected, the supermarkets said in a joint statement. As the word swiftly spread on picket lines, members, living on strike pay for nearly five months, indicated they were ready to do just that.