No Strike: Union, Grocery Chains Reach Tentative Agreement

A tentative agreement was reached Monday morning between negotiators for 62,000 grocery workers in Southern California and the corporations that own Ralphs, Vons/Pavilions and Albertsons after around-the-clock negotiations.

The agreement needs the approval of union members before it can go into effect, said Mike Shimpock, spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, the union representing Los Angeles-area grocery workers. Details of the tentative agreement were not made public.

"We have reached a tentative agreement at the bargaining table, and will present it to our members for approval later this week," said union President Rick Icaza, in a prepared statement. "We would like to thank the federal mediator, Scot Beckenbaugh, as well as all our customers for their patience and support through this difficult process."

The grocery companies in a joint statement said, "We are pleased to have reached a tentative settlement agreement with the union that continues to preserve good wages, secure pensions and access to quality, affordable health care—while allowing us to be competitive in the marketplace. We appreciate the hard work, support and patience that many different people have shown during the past eight months, and particularly the past few weeks."

Grocery workers, including those working at the  in Malibu Colony Plaza and the  in Malibu Village, gave a 72-hour notice Thursday of their cancellation of the contract extension, paving the way for a strike if a deal could not be reached by Sunday at 7:10 p.m. Negotiators, however, made progress and talks continued throughout the night until the tentative deal was struck Monday morning.