> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Southland grocery workers threaten another strike as contract talks stall - URL: https://www.smdp.com/not-again/ - Published: 2007-07-07T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T02:14:01.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import *With grocery workers set to strike again, shoppers may not be so understanding* *By STORY BY MELODY HANATANI* CITYWIDE It was nearly five months of hell. Jessica Dozoretz grimaces at the memory of the 2003 supermarket strike, when 70,000 grocery workers were locked out of the three major Southern California chains — Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons — over a labor dispute involving health care and salary. HERE WE GO AGAIN “It was horrible,” Dozoretz said, getting out of her car on Friday to shop at the Vons on 13th Street and Wilshire Boulevard. “It was a horrific inconvenience.” Though she lives just nine blocks away from Vons, Dozoretz decided against crossing the picket line, instead making the trip to the Trader Joe’s in Culver City. Now, faced with the possibility of another strike over a disagreement involving health care and wages, Dozoretz sighs, but says she’ll respect the picket line if another lock-out occurs. She knows many of the Vons employees on a first-name basis. “A lot of these people are single moms and are just trying to look out for their family,” Dozoretz said. “They don’t make bank here.” It’s been less than four years since the protracted grocery strike, which kept shoppers away from the three major Southland chains for 20 weeks — from Oct. 11, 2003 to Feb. 26, 2004, when a new agreement was finally ratified by the United Food and Commercial Workers. The contract expired on March 5 and union and supermarket representatives have been at it again since January, trying to hammer out a new deal. Frustrated with negotiations, the seven local UFCW unions in Southern California — from Bakersfield to the Mexico border — authorized a strike last month if talks failed once again with Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons. Talks will resume on Monday. Thoughts of another strike makes shoppers cringe. “I’m going to be gone for three weeks soon, so if they do strike, I hope it’s while I’m gone,” joked Victoria Rambow on Friday, as she was leaving Vons. Regular shoppers of the three major chains were supportive in the last strike, oftentimes patronizing alternative markets such as Wild Oats, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. They avoided crossing the picket line for various reasons. Some were appalled by the offer laid out by the supermarkets, others didn’t want to deal with the hassle of crossing the picket line and the possibility of harassment by the disgruntled workers. But shoppers might not be as willing to support the strike this time around, some citing strike fatigue. “I think there might be a little fatigue,” said Renee Florsheim, associate professor of marketing for Loyola Marymount University. “Depending upon how much people remember of the resolution of the last strike, there may be people who perceive that the workers are getting a little too demanding.” Others might assume that the workers just didn’t get enough in the last contract, Florsheim added. “It’s hard to predict, but I think it’s a risky market for supermarkets and that may play well for the union,” she said. Enter Tesco, the largest retailer in the United Kingdom. The British supermarket chain is reportedly opening a few operations in California this year, adding another alternative to the mix for shoppers if grocery workers do proceed with the strike. “Between the British market coming in and the fact that people are disaffected, if it’s becoming too much of a problem shopping at a supermarket... they might go somewhere else,” Florsheim said. More than 50,000 regular shoppers of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons have already given their pledge to stay away from the picket line, said Mike Shimpock, a spokesman for the unions. Grocery workers have been handing out pledge cards over the past few months, collecting more than 50,000 signed cards and receiving several text messages of support, Shimpock said. “People get it that this is a bigger fight than just grocery workers,” he said. “These are people who work hard, and if you work hard, you should be able to make a wage to support your family.” A strike is the union’s last resort, but if a protest does move forward, Shimpock believes the shoppers will be supportive once again. A Mar Vista resident who occasionally shops at the Vons on Wilshire Boulevard and 13th Street, Rambow said she plans to respect the picket line if a strike is called. As a granddaughter of union members and a member of the court workers union, Rambow empathizes with the workers. “I have a tendency to go for what’s right,” she said. “If it’s right, I’ll bend over backwards, even if it (inconveniences) me.” A regular shopper at Whole Foods, Santa Monica resident Carol Gary occasionally runs to Vons to purchase smaller everyday items. The Vons is only a few blocks from where she lives. She admits to crossing the picket line several times during the last strike, but not because of ideology. “Laziness, probably,” Gary said. “I tried not to. I feel bad for the grocery store workers.” BATTLING IT OUT ONE MORE TIME The dispute in 2003 concerned the union’s opposition to a two-tier salary and benefits system, separating new employees from the veterans and lengthening the time in which new hires have to wait before qualifying for health care. In the end, approximately 86 percent of the union voted to ratify a contract that created a two-tier system where new employees earned, on average, about 5 cents an hour above the minimum wage and had to wait about a year and a half before they could qualify for health care. “From the company’s perspective, no one wins in a strike,” said Adena Tessler, the spokeswoman for the three chains. “Certainly, no one won the last time around — not the companies, not the customers and not our employees.” The upcoming contract will cover 60,000 workers from seven local UFCW unions. The union is now demanding a repeal of the two-tier system, which it calls “unfair,” and a wage increase, which they haven’t received since 2002, Shimpock said. Of the approximately 44,000 second-tier workers — the employees hired after the 2004 contract — less than 4,000 have health care coverage, Shimpock said. Even fewer have health care coverage for their children. New employees currently have to wait 18 months before they qualify for health insurance. The union is proposing changing the policy to six months to cover the employee and the child. The new employees currently have to wait three years to qualify their children for health care coverage. The union would also like to see a wage increase comparable to what they will receive under a new contract signed with Stater Bros. and Gelson’s in January and February, respectively. The old contracts for both companies were set to expire on March 5. Under the Stater Bros. and Gelson’s contracts, similar two-tier salary systems are eliminated and grocery workers receive a wage increase ranging from $1.25 to $1.63 an hour. The contract is good for three years. Shimpock declined to state what the union is exactly seeking in terms of wage increase from Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons. Representatives from the supermarkets are taking the time off this week to prepare for next week’s negotiations. Tessler said she thinks it’s unfortunate that the union is, instead, using their time to prepare for a strike when there is no strike imminent. “Our focus is to get back to the bargaining table and to negotiate a contract that would be good for our employees and good to our companies,” Tessler said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/070707-01_03.jpg) THE HARD WAY: Striking supermarket workers tow the picket line outside Vons on Lincoln Boulevard in January 2004 during a bitter, five-month strike. (Photo: Photo courtesy) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 7, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/070707.pdf?ref=smdp.com)