Peter Hurtgen, the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, has recessed negotiations in the Southern California grocery workers dispute after what he called two days of “useful” weekend talks.
Go deeper with GlobalData
“It’s necessary again to give the parties time away from the table at this critical juncture,” Hurtgen said.
Hurtgen reported progress during two long bargaining sessions over the weekend in the area of wages and pensions. He said that further talks would be resumed when he determines that it is appropriate to bring the parties back to the table. He did not immediately set a timetable for the resumption of negotiations.
Representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and supermarket chains Kroger’s Ralphs, Safeway’s Vons and Albertsons have been in talks aimed at resolving the ongoing grocery workers strike and lockout. The labour dispute centres around the supermarkets’ attempts to make workers contribute towards rising health care costs.
Meanwhile, striking grocery workers have begun to picket regional distribution centres, hoping to cut off supplies of food and other groceries to the stores. However, Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway said they had contingency plans to keep the stores open, reported Reuters.
