By JACK KATZANEK
The Press-Enterprise

Checks for more than 15,000 current and former Ralphs Grocery Co. workers who walked picket lines during the lockout of 2003 and 2004 will tentatively be ready to be mailed on Nov. 30, a court-appointed arbitrator said.

Ralphs agreed last year to pay workers and their union $50 million after pleading guilty to federal charges its managers rehired locked-out workers under false names at most of its 300 Southern California stores during the long labor dispute. The company, which was accused of 53 counts, including filing false tax information to the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, also paid a $20 million fine.

The $50 million restitution fund was created in June 2006 and workers had until May 21 of this year to file claims. The five months since that date have been spent verifying the employees' claims and the amounts, said Tom Roberts, the court-appointed special master.

"The target date is currently Nov. 30 but that's subject to court approval," Roberts said Thursday afternoon. "The settlement itself has been approved, but what we're waiting for is the final identification of who the claimants are and how much each will get."

The special master initially sent claim forms to 18,500 people who worked for Ralphs during the 20-week strike and lockout. Seven locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers' struck at the Vons chain in October 2003; Ralphs and Albertsons immediately responded by locking out its workers.

Roberts said the "best ballpark figure" on the number of valid claims received was 15,250. Part of the settlement goes to the union to reimburse it for the strike benefits it paid workers and other expenses.

There are currently about 30 Ralphs stores in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. At the time of the December 2005 indictment, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said the illegal hiring practices occurred at 90 percent of Ralphs' stores.

Edward Parris, a Hemet resident and a retired Ralphs employee who picketed at the Moreno Valley store he worked at in 2003 and 2004, said earlier this week that the questionnaire that accompanied the claim form made it appear that the arbitrator was looking for ways applicants could be disqualified, which Roberts said was not the case.

"My union rep doesn't say much to me at all (about the restitution)," Parris said. "It's kind of out of their hands."

Reach reporter Jack Katzanek at 951-368-9553 or at jkatzanek@PE.com

Ralphs Restitution Fund Administration web site.

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