Three major Southern California supermarket chains are locked in high-stakes contract negotiations with clerks that could lead to a strike next month. The chains, Safeway Inc., Kroger Co., and Albertson's Inc., say they must lower labor costs in order to remain competitive with Wal-Mart and other nonunion retailers that are moving into grocery sales. The contract will expire at midnight Sunday, and both sides have been preparing for a strike.
See "Supermarkets, Clerks Gird for Possible Strike", Nancy Cleeland and Melinda Fulmer, Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2003