No Immediate Strike for Grocery Workers

While tens of thousands of grocery workers voted to give their union authorization for a strike there are no immediate plans to do so. They are hopeful that they will head back to the bargaining table shortly, but that is up to the federal mediator. OC Register:

A federal mediator has been involved in the talks since the beginning. It's up to the mediator to reconvene the negotiations, said Greg Conger, president of UFCW Local 324 in Buena Park.

After Sunday's strike-authorization vote, "the employers know that we have that in our arsenal (and) that should be enough of an incentive for them to bargain to a conclusion," Conger said.

The strike authorization is leverage for use in the negotiations. It also shortens the timeline, encouraging a faster pace for the talks, since they can call for the workers to strike within a short period of time.

Both sides say they don't want a strike. If union leaders were to decide to call one, they would have to first give the employers 72 hours notice of their intention to terminate the current contract extension.

The contract expired in March but is being extended on a day-to-day basis.

Hopefully, the mediator will bring them back to the table and a productive negotiation will take place. It's way past time to eliminate the two-tier wage structure.