As Southern California's grocery workers' union trumpeted what it described as a victory in protracted contract talks with the region's largest supermarket chains, workers expressed relief Wednesday.
The agreement came Tuesday night after months of negotiations and repeated threats of strikes and lockouts. The 65,000 union members who work at 785 Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons stores from San Diego to Bakersfield are expected to approve the new four-year pact in voting Sunday.
Shoppers interviewed Wednesday were upbeat that they would not have to hurdle picket lines to get their groceries. Workers also were happy that they would not have to strike. But for some, the stress of the grueling negotiations lingered.
"I'm not going to go through this again in another three or four years. It's too much stress," said Suzanne Demers, 44, as she headed to her job as a supervisor at a Vons in Redondo Beach.
A "second-tier" worker who earns $10.50 an hour alongside others who make as much as $17.90, Demers said she would probably support the contract her union negotiated.
But, she added, she planned to find a new line of work. "This is not the kind of company I want to work for," Demers said. "I'll go back to secretarial or administrative assistant work. I'll go back to school and maybe learn management."
Both the union and the employers were staying mum about details of the agreement until the information could be formally presented to workers before the vote.
But people familiar with the pact said it would give workers their first scheduled raises since 2002. It also would raise the top wage rate and make all employees -- including 33,000 second-tier workers who like Demers received lower wages and benefits -- eligible to reach it.
The contract would slash the time newer workers would have to wait to get health insurance to six months from as long as 18 months. The health-insurance waiting period for children of newer workers would shrink to six months from 30 months.
The supermarket chains said they were pleased with the agreement.
"We believe these contracts will allow us to remain competitive in the Southern California marketplace," said Adena Tessler, spokeswoman for the grocery chains.
The accord would make up some of the ground the United Food and Commercial Workers lost in a bitter, lengthy walkout and lockout 3 1/2 years ago.
