LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The fourth negotiating session in eight days between the union representing some 12,000 Stater Bros. workers and the grocery chain resumed Wednesday.
Representatives of Stater Bros. and the United Food and Commercial Workers also met Tuesday and last Tuesday and Wednesday.
The union said it is seeking “living wages, affordable health care benefits, a reliable pension (and) more staffing and better working conditions for a better customer experience.”
Stater Bros. said in a statement Aug. 25 it is trying to “reach an agreement that reflects the value and importance of our store teammates, maintains the long-term health of the company, and helps us hold the line on grocery prices for our customers.”
The union announced July 25 its members had voted overwhelmingly to authorize their bargaining team to call an unfair labor practices strike. A vote count was not released.
A strike authorization vote does not necessarily mean there will be a strike.
The union has also been calling for a boycott of the supermarket, “in response to the company’s disrespect of workers throughout contract negotiations, as reflected in the unfair labor practice charges that the workers’ unions have filed against the company,” labor officials said.
Stater Bros. Markets offered the following response:
“The Stater Bros. Markets bargaining team has been at the negotiating table, working hard and in good faith to reach an agreement with our Union partners. Significant amounts of progress had been made during negotiations last week, so we were disappointed to learn that the union chose to proceed with boycott activities at our stores anyway.
“An agreement can only be reached at the negotiation table, not by disrupting our customers’ shopping.”
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