By LOU HIRSH
The Press-Enterprise http://www.pe.com/

Workers voted Sunday to approve a union-endorsed, four-year contract covering more than 65,000 Southern California employees of Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons, culminating nearly six months of sporadic negotiations to replace the pact that expired in March.

"We can safely say that the contract has been ratified," union spokeswoman Sandra Lloyd-Jones said about 9 p.m. Sunday. "The votes have not all been counted, but we know there was overwhelming support for what was in the contract."

The contract eliminates a two-tier wage system installed at the end of the 2003-04 lockout and strike, and includes workers' first pay raise since 2002. It also averts a repeat of that previous showdown, which lasted 141 days and cost the grocers and workers millions of dollars in lost sales and wages.

The union is expected to announce the official tally today, but representatives were touting the new pact Sunday evening, as results came in from 25 locations of seven union locals.

"Members are shocked," said Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 in Los Angeles. "They just can't believe the extent of what they were able to achieve with this contract."

Among details released Sunday evening by the union, the pact runs four years instead of the previous contract's three, expiring on March 6, 2011. It includes annual pay increases retroactive to March 5, the day the last contract expired.

For example, experienced food clerks and meat cutters will receive a total raise of about $1.65 an hour over the course of the contract. That's about 50 cents in year one, 40 cents in year two, 35 cents in year three and 40 cents in year four, according to Lloyd-Jones.

Instead of the two-tier system, all employees will be on the same wage-progression schedule and will be eligible to reach the same top pay scale in their classification. The union contended throughout negotiations that the two-tier system created customer-service quality issues because less-senior workers were less motivated.

The contract also shortens eligibility periods for healthcare benefits and maintains pension funding at current levels. The union agreed to supplement the grocers' contributions with $3,000 per employee from an existing trust fund to pay for health coverage, or about $240 million over four years.

Employee Reaction

Several store employees outside the UFCW Local 1167 auditorium in Bloomington, where they had just voted Sunday afternoon, said they were satisfied with the contract.

"The health benefits are a 100 percent improvement," said Rachel Hewes, a 15-year employee of Albertsons, who works in the seafood department at a Corona store.

"There's going to be better health coverage, and they're offering a plan that (eventually) will do away with some of the co-pays for prescription drugs," said John Roorda, a 29-year Ralphs employee in Rancho Cucamonga. "That was a big burden for a lot of people."

"It's one of the better contracts in my experience," said Lupe Quihuis, a 17-year Ralphs employee in Riverside.

However, some workers who supported the pact also expressed frustration over the time it has taken workers to make gains after several years without a raise, and months of talks on the new contract.

"It would have shown a little more respect for the workers if the grocery companies had some of this in place earlier," said Sue Eaton, a 31-year employee of Ralphs in San Bernardino.

"I think the union did a good job negotiating a contract," said Eddie Garcia, a meat cutter at a Riverside Ralphs who has been with the company more than 20 years. "But this is going to be our first pay raise since 2002. The grocery companies and their top people made a lot of money, but not the people who made the money for them."

"What it does is put families on hold," said Roy Griffith, who works at an Albertsons in Upland, referring to the lengthy negotiations process. "You put trips on hold, you put vacations on hold, and now it's almost time for school to start."

Grocers 'Pleased'

In a joint statement Sunday evening, the big-three supermarket chains said they were "pleased at the early indication that the contract settlement has been ratified, but we are still awaiting official confirmation from the unions."

"We are proud to have negotiated a new contract that continues to provide our employees with a comprehensive wage and benefits package, as well as allows our companies to remain competitive in Southern California," the statement said.

In a separate statement, Steve Burd, president and CEO of Vons parent firm Safeway Inc., said the contract contains "some unique and groundbreaking reforms in the healthcare plan."

Safeway said the restructured health plan provides workers with health reimbursement. It also emphasizes preventive care, wellness programs, behavior change and management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, smoking, high cholesterol and asthma.

For example, the plan provides for 100 percent of the cost of preventive care measures such as mammograms, annual physicals, well-baby care, childhood immunizations and prostate cancer screenings.

The contract covers workers at 785 stores from Bakersfield to San Diego. It is similar to the pact reached in January between the union and Colton-based Stater Bros., affecting 14,000 workers at 160-plus stores.

While Stater set its own wage scale with the contract, the company has said it will abide by the health and pension terms worked out with the big-three chains.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach Lou Hirsh at 951-368-9559 or lhirsh@PE.com

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