Small Business Resources, Business Advice and Forms from AllBusiness.com

Labor Experts Are Weary of Two-Tiered Wage System Used by Grocery Chains.

By David Washburn, The San Diego Union-Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Mar. 6--By defiantly walking the line for 140 days to save their health benefits and pensions, Southern California grocery workers showed they are not a group to be trifled with.

Yet the United Food and Commercial Workers gave in on a two-tiered wage system that puts two classes of workers under the same roof one with middle-class wages and benefits, and another that will struggle in the coming years to stay out of the ranks of the working poor.

It's too early

In addition, make sure to read these premium articles also available with your free trial:

T T T
art_print Printart_email Email 16x16-digg-guy  Digg It delicious-small  del.icio.us

Related Resources

Free AllBusiness Articles

  • SoCal Albertsons Workers Authorize Strike
    • SAN DIEGO -- Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Southern California Grocery Workers union voted Sunday to authorize union officials to call a strike against Albertsons across Southern California, a union spokesman said yesterday. The vote did not set a date for a strike, and the union and ......
  • Strike Talks Collapse; Supermarkets Turn Down Union Health Cost Offer
    • SAN DIEGO - Negotiations in the Southern California grocery worker strike and lockout broke off Friday night after a 12-hour session, local newspapers report. Federal mediation chief Peter Hurtgen said the talks had been "recessed indefinitely," a term not used before during the strike, which began Oct. 11.
  • Grocers' Union Stands Firm On Health Benefits Issue
    • Southern California grocery employees walking the picket lines outside of three major food chains readily admit they're not striking over wages, but the proposed change in health insurance they say will cut benefits in half. "This isn't about wages," said Samantha West, a communications specialist for United Food and Commercial......
  • Food 4 Less, Southern California UFCW Locals Come to Tentative Contract Agreement
    • COMPTON, Calif. - With reverberations from last year's West Coast grocery industry job action still being felt, price-impact supermarket chain Food 4 Less, based here, late last week reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 135, 324, 770, 1036, 1167, 1428, ......
  • After Strike Vote, Union Workers and Grocers Return to Bargaining Table
    • Close to 60,000 union workers voted June 24 on whether to accept a proposed contract or to strike, workers and an analyst said last week. Though the strike was authorized by a two-thirds majority vote of the workers, a walkout is not necessarily imminent. After saying six months of negotiations ......
  • Effects of Grocery Strike Likely to Be Felt for Months
    • The 4 1/2-month-long strike and lockout between the food workers union and three major grocery chains may be over, but after nearly five months of strife, some industry observers said there were no winners, only losers. "This is one of the greatest lose-lose-lose situations I've ever seen," said Peter Barron ......
  • Chula Vista First Stop for U.K. Food Giant Tesco
    • The only grocer happy about Tesco's arrival here is Tesco, according to Lloyd Greif of Los Angeles-based investment bank Greif & Co. "Tesco recognizes the competitive market of Southern California, and their aggressive buildout strategy is a concerted effort to make their brand known here," Greif said. Tesco controls 30 ......

Video

Forms

  • Employee Handbook
    • This sample Employee Handbook covers more than 30 employment policies, including those dealing with work days, harassment, jury duty, paid ......
  • All Forms

Blogs

  • How the Underground Economy Punishes Small Businesses
    • The underground economy has grown significantly over the past 20 years, and small businesses are caught in the middle of a debate over what to do about it.
  • Book Short:  You'd Never Run Your Business This Way...
    • Book Short:  You'd Never Run Your Business This Way... I am an unabashed conservative, so you might wonder what I was doing reading  A Country That Works, by union chief Andy Stern, the President of SEIU (Service Workers International Union) this weekend.  Well, part of it is that my ......
  • Four Balls or One Strike?
    • Four Balls or One Strike? In baseball, four balls is a walk.  Today in New York, all it took was one strike, and lots of us were taking long walks - to work, from work, to dinner.  Even though I'm a CEO and "management" and part of the establishment, ......
  • Coupon Savings and Menu Planning
    • The kitchen is probably one of my favorite places in the home. I love to cook, but it goes beyond that. I also love to shop within a budget. To me it is a game: How low I can keep the grocery bill each month while still preparing tasty, nutritious ......
  • All Bloggers
Related Topics
Tools

Sponsored Links

Site Map | Contact Us | FAQs | About Us | Media Kit | Reprints | RSS Directory | Sign Up for Free Newsletters | Disclosure Policy

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 AllBusiness.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this content or the data or information included therein may be reproduced,
republished or redistributed without the prior written consent of AllBusiness.com.
Use of this site is governed by our Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy, Terms of Use Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Get In-Depth Company Information from Hoover's | Buy a D&B Credit Report | What is in Your Company's D&B Credit Report? | Article Archives
Online Business Database | Online Business Information | Email Marketing Lists | Sales and Marketing Solutions | Business Mailing Lists
Information and opinions on AllBusiness.com solely represent the thoughts and opinions of the authors and are not endorsed by, or reflect the beliefs of,
AllBusiness.com, its parent company D&B, and its affiliates.