Southern California grocery workers voted Sunday to give their union the right to strike if negotiations for a new contract fail. Union officials said the measure passed by an overwhelming 95%, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Contract talks between the United Food and Commercial Workers union and Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons over a new agreement for 65,000 workers from Bakersfield to the Mexican border broke off late last week. Sunday’s strike authorization vote was set by the union after the grocery chains failed to meet a Thursday deadline for a formal offer.
The voting, at 25 locations, continued as late as 9 p.m. with a high turnout, the union said, and a formal announcement of the results was scheduled for this morning.
For the strike authorization measure to pass, at least two-thirds of participating voters had to support it. The approval does not mean there will be a strike, but it gives union leaders added clout in negotiations.
Turnout at one location, Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, was heavy by 8:30 a.m., with the school’s parking lot filled to overflowing and voters crowded into a stuffy auditorium for a pre-vote briefing by union leaders.
