Union Sends Picketers to Safeway Stores in Northern California
LOS ANGELES - The United Food and Commercial Workers union said Friday that it is sending "hundreds" of striking Southern California grocery workers to Safeway stores in Northern California to disrupt business, according to a Dow Jones newswires report. The union employees of Safeway in Northern California are not on strike.
Safeway workers in Southern California have been on strike since Oct. 11. As part of a pact between the area's three major grocers, workers at Kroger Co.'s Ralphs stores and Albertson's Inc. stores have been locked out.
On Oct. 31, the union announced it would pull picketers from Ralphs stores, and said it would extend lines to stores in areas that where union contracts are currently not under negotiations, such as Northern California. The UFCW also said that it would picket grocery distribution centers that are staffed by Teamsters, who have vowed not to cross UFCW lines.
A union representative told Dow Jones on Friday that there have been no pickets yet at distribution centers.
Safeway workers in Southern California have been on strike since Oct. 11. As part of a pact between the area's three major grocers, workers at Kroger Co.'s Ralphs stores and Albertson's Inc. stores have been locked out.
On Oct. 31, the union announced it would pull picketers from Ralphs stores, and said it would extend lines to stores in areas that where union contracts are currently not under negotiations, such as Northern California. The UFCW also said that it would picket grocery distribution centers that are staffed by Teamsters, who have vowed not to cross UFCW lines.
A union representative told Dow Jones on Friday that there have been no pickets yet at distribution centers.