2003-10-30 -- More on the Southern California Grocery Strike for Health
Benefits   picture of strike line


850 southern California grocery stores are demanding their 70,000
employees pay $5 a week for individual health care coverage, $10 to
$15 a week for family coverage, that employees pay as much as $75 for
prescription drug coverage and that their dental and vision care
benefits be terminated.  Albertsons and Ralphs locked out their
employees after union members began a strike against Safeway.


Now the groceries have said they will not make November or December
payments into the trust fund for the union's health plan, though
employees worked enough hours before the strike to qualify for
coverage through December, and some worked enough hours to qualify for
benefits through the end of March. They also state that the fund could
go bankrupt by mid-December unless the grocers continue to make their
monthly contributions.


THE SUPERMARKET STRIKE

Los Angeles Times, October 30, 2003


Union Sues Over Health-Care Fund:
The latest lawsuits seek to compel
the major grocery chains to continue
making monthly contributions.



The United Food and Commercial Workers union filed two more lawsuits
against the major supermarket chains Wednesday, this time in an
attempt to force the companies to continue funding the employee
health-care plan.

The suits, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claim the
health trust fund that provides medical coverage for about 200,000
union employees, dependents and retirees could go bankrupt by
mid-December unless the chains continue to make monthly contributions.

The markets made their scheduled $40-million payment into the fund on
Oct. 20, but said they would not make November or December payments,
union attorneys said.

Albertsons spokeswoman Stacia Levenfeld said the company had not seen
the lawsuit and would not comment. Representatives of the two other
chains could not be reached.

The fund covers employees at some union grocers that are not involved
in the strike, including Gelsons and Stater Bros.

On Oct. 11, the United Food and Commercial Workers union launched a
strike against Vons and Pavilions stores, both owned by Safeway Inc.
The next day, Albertsons Inc. and Kroger Co.'s Ralphs stores locked
out their union employees in a show of solidarity. In all, 70,000
workers at 859 stores throughout Southern California and parts of
Central California are affected.

No negotiations have been held since the strike began, and none are
scheduled.

The lawsuits say striking and locked-out workers earned health
coverage through the end of December by working during the summer
months. Some also worked enough hours in September and early October
to qualify for another quarter-year of benefits, through the end of
March.

After their employer-paid coverage expires, federal law provides that
striking and locked workers could still buy coverage comparable to
their current plan at $360 a month, UFCW officials said.

One lawsuit cites obligations under the labor contract and asks the
court to force the markets to contribute. Another suit cites federal
laws on insurance coverage and seeks emergency binding arbitration.

Last month, the union sued the three chains for what it said were
unpaid wages to locked out workers.

Meanwhile, Albertsons is seeking a preliminary injunction to restrict
or eliminate pickets at its stores. The chain sought a temporary
restraining order in Santa Ana Superior Court last week but was turned
down. The judge set a Nov. 12 preliminary hearing for an injunction.

A California law that went into effect in January raises the bar for
employers to win such injunctions. The chain must show a threat of
irreparable harm or injury from the pickets, and prove that police
have been unable to control them.

"To me," said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles,
one of seven union locals involved in the dispute, "this just
indicates desperation on their part."