The threat of a grocery workers’ strike is still on the horizon
but talks were on hold this week because the federal mediator has
departed Denver on other business, said Dave Minshall, spokesman
for the Union of Food and commercial Workers Local 7.

King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons have been locked in
discussions for several weeks with the workers’ union over terms of
the employment contract to replace the one that expired Sept.
12.

Talks are set to resume sometime during the week beginning
Monday when the supermarkets are expected to present their “last,
best and final offer.”

As long as the offer is substantially different from earlier
ones, the proposal will be put to a vote of the entire union
membership of 17,500.

If it is similar to earlier proposals it probably will be voted
down by the negotiating team, Minshall said. At that point a strike
may be called for or the parties could agree to talk some
more.

Workers voted down the first offer on Sept. 11 and a negotiating
team rejected the second offer on Oct. 7 as totally
unacceptable.

The supermarkets are asking workers to contribute more money to
cover their health insurance in order to help the stores compete
better with low-cost and non-union competitors, namely
Wal-Mart.

The union workers believe they have sacrificed higher wages for
the last 10 years. “They are hanging on to their (fully paid)
health care in lieu of significant wage increases,” Minshall
said.

A spokesman for the grocery stores expressed disappointment in
the progress of talks since Sept. 12.

“We entered this contract extension with the hope that we could
finally engage the union in meaningful, productive negotiations,”
said Pete Webb, a spokesman for the groceries. “But the reality is,
the process is not working and there is no reason to continue
meeting at this time.”

“We have presented two comprehensive offers of settlement to
Local 7, both of which were rejected out of hand in a matter of
hours, and we have yet to receive any comprehensive
counter-proposal from the union,” Webb said.

In Douglas County a strike would affect nine King Soopers, five
Safeways and one Albertsons and about 1,500 employees. In the metro
area there are 72 King Soopers, 56 Safeways and 35
Albertsons.

Contact Vicky Gits at vgits@ccnewspapers.net.