Any day now, the health fund for union supermarket workers in Southern and Central California could run out of money, jeopardizing medical coverage for about 200,000 people.
Trustees who oversee the health plan say the joint union-company fund will be empty by the end of the year because the three supermarket companies in the 9-week-old labor dispute have not made their payments to the fund for November and December -- about $40 million a month.
Administrators of the fund are negotiating with HMOs and other medical providers to avert a disruption of coverage. The United Food and Commercial Workers union has filed a federal lawsuit to force the grocery chains to pony up millions of dollars to keep the fund solvent.
But short of a legal remedy or a contract settlement, tens of thousands of supermarket retirees, workers and their dependents could find themselves without any medical protection in a matter of days, according to union officials.
That could prove pivotal to the outcome of the first supermarket strike in Southern and Central California in 25 years. With its members already straining financially, the UFCW may come under increasing pressure to hammer out a deal with the chains: Albertsons Inc., Kroger Co.'s Ralphs and Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Pavilions.
On the other hand, losing health coverage may instead strengthen the resolve of the workers. The UFCW is fighting to maintain health benefits -- traditionally fully paid by the supermarket employers -- for its 70,000 members in Southern and Central California.
"This is just part of a deluge of pain they're going through," said Ruth Milkman, director of the University of California Institute for Labor and Employment. "If anything, it's likely to make people angrier and more determined."
Still, the prospect of losing medical coverage has heightened anxieties for many striking and locked-out workers, particularly those in need of medications and treatments.
And it isn't just those on picket lines who are on edge -- the UFCW-Food Employers Benefit Fund also pays for health care for thousands of employees of Stater Bros. and Gelson's markets. They aren't directly involved in the labor dispute, although any contract signed by the UFCW and the three major chains would apply to them.
Amber Scott, a seven-year Vons employee, choked up Wednesday when talking about her health-care needs. The 31-year-old Long Beach woman said she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease last year and must go regularly to her doctor for checkups and undergo tests to monitor her condition.
