Grocery Union Makes Push for Public Support

Contract Expires Tonight

The labor contract for Giant Food and Safeway employees expires tonight, and the workers union has spent the past week rallying public support as negotiations continue with the region's two largest supermarket chains.

Community groups have handed out leaflets in front of about two dozen stores and urged shoppers to contact company executives. At a news conference yesterday, several religious leaders called on their congregations to back the United Food and Commercial Workers union and boycott the chains if an agreement cannot be reached.

"This is a matter of simple justice," said the Rev. Morris Shearin, pastor of Israel Baptist Church in Northeast. "If Safeway and Giant want to take profits out of our community, they must do right by our community."

Union locals 400 and 27 represent about 23,000 grocery workers in the Washington and Baltimore regions. Union leaders have been in negotiations with the companies for more than a month. Talks are expected to continue through the weekend, and a vote by union membership on a new contract is scheduled for Tuesday at the D.C. Armory.

Bargaining has been slow, with health-care benefits, wages and pensions among the top issues. A source close to the negotiation said one sticking point is the companies' request that workers pay a monthly premium for their health insurance. Under the current contract, most employees do not have premiums but are required to pay a $200 annual deductible.

Local 400 President C. James Lowthers said in a statement yesterday that some progress had been made but that "significant hurdles" remain. The union has not ruled out a strike, he said, and has completed preparations for that scenario, making hundreds of picket signs and contacting police and elected officials.

Safeway and Giant have hired scores of temporary workers in case union employees walk off the job. The companies' lead negotiator, attorney Harry W. Burton, said only that the two sides are talking. The most recent posting on Safeway's Web site said the company is bargaining "in good faith" and was "cautiously optimistic" that an agreement would be reached.

If the contract is not finalized by Tuesday, both parties could extend the negotiations while workers continue to be governed by the expired contract. To strike, two-thirds of union membership must vote in favor of it.

The threat of a strike loomed over the last round of contract negotiations four years ago, especially because it came shortly after a nearly five-month strike by UFCW workers in Southern California after contract talks with Safeway and two other supermarket chains broke down. But the union averted that outcome here and hammered out an eleventh-hour agreement that maintained no-premium health-care benefits for most employees.

In exchange, the companies slowed the pace of raises and reduced holiday pay for workers hired after 2004. After six years on the job, their benefits and raises would be governed by the same rules that apply to veteran workers.

Safeway and Giant say they must reduce labor costs to compete with nonunion retailers such as Wal-Mart, which are gaining market share. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage for cashiers in the Washington-Baltimore region was $9.72 a year ago. At Giant and Safeway, the average hourly wage for all union-covered employees is about $15.

But community activists said that workers should not pay more for their benefits and that wages should reflect higher costs for items such as food and fuel.

"This is not just about Safeway or Giant. This is a fight for the future of good retail jobs," said Mackenzie Baris, lead organizer of DC Jobs with Justice, which passed out fliers. "We need to send a strong message that we won't let this happen in our community."