Strike Averted: Union, Grocery Store Leaders Reach Agreement

A grocery strike at Southern California Von's, Albertson's and Ralph's grocery stores has been averted, as management and union leaders have struck an 11th-hour deal.

As previously reported on Patch, both sides agreed to continued dealing past Sunday's deadline in an effort to avoid a strike by 62,000 grocery workers across Southern California, who are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers labor union.

Eric Rose, a spokesman for Vons, released the following statement, announcing the tentative deal:

"We are pleased to have reached a tentative settlement agreement with the union that continues to preserve good wages, secure pensions and access to quality, affordable health care—while allowing us to be competitive in the marketplace. We appreciate the hard work, support and patience that many different people have shown during the past eight months, and particularly the past few weeks."

Rose said that details of the deal would not be made public until the deal was ratified.