"In 2003-2004, we learned that nobody wins in a strike. We do not want that to happen again," Dave Hirz, president of Ralphs Grocery Co., wrote in a posting on the company's website.
Said Greg Conger, president of UFCW Local 324 in Buena Park, "Any strike would be measured in days and not months. Immediately there would be a desire on both sides to settle quickly."
Pressure to settle is a result of the competitive nature of the grocery business in Southern California, where pennies per item can add up to millions of dollars in profits or losses.
More stores, more rivals
Five years ago, Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons controlled nearly 57% of supermarket shopping in Los Angeles County, according to data from industry newsletter Shelby Report and market research firm ACNielsen. Now the big three grocers have barely a 49% share of that spending. (Ralphs is a division of Kroger Co. of Cincinnati; Vons and its Pavilions stores are owned by Safeway Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif.; and Albertsons is owned by Supervalu Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minn.)
Meanwhile, business surged at rivals not part of the labor battle. They now have nearly 27% of the market, up more than 6 percentage points from before the strike. (Those figures do not include membership warehouse stores such as Costco Wholesale Corp. or the Sam's Club division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)
"During the strike, many of our customers were forced to shop elsewhere and they discovered other options," said Hirz of Ralphs, which has 262 stores in Southern California.
Before the dispute, he said, Ralphs customers in surveys talked of as many as four shopping alternatives convenient to their home. Now they mention as many as eight choices, Hirz said.
More options open every day.
Trader Joe's has grown about 20% in Southern California since the start of the strike and will soon have 86 stores in the region.
Whole Foods Markets, which has 20 stores in the metropolitan area, has nine more in development.
Later this year, British retailer Tesco will open the first of hundreds of stores planned for Southern California and the southwestern United States.
New pact, new frustration
As competitors multiply, pressure grows on the big chains to keep down costs -- especially labor costs. And in high-cost Southern California, nothing frustrates workers more.
Worker discontent remains high with the two-tier wage structure approved after the last bitter labor dispute. And health benefits remain a worry as well.
