Despite claims by Albertsons and Ralphs, inadequate funding of health trust fund will make benefit cuts and higher fees inevitable
Negotiators for 62,000 grocery workers in Southern California have dismissed a modified health care proposal from Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons as a deceptive and hollow attempt to avert a pending labor dispute.
Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons have been negotiating with seven local unions of the United Food and Commercial Workers since early this year. On Aug. 19, the grocery workers are scheduled to vote on accepting or rejecting any offers the employers have on the table at that time.
In letters sent this week to their employees, management made several false claims about their proposal.
While the letters assert that grocery workers would not be asked to pay higher co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, the employers' offer fails to include adequate increases in employer contributions to the workers' health and welfare trust fund.
As a result, the trust fund, which pays for the health care for grocery workers and their families in Southern California, would run out of money unless the workers are forced to pay higher fees or accept drastic cuts in medical services for themselves and their families.
Management's proposal also includes employee-paid premiums that would cost almost $1,200 a year. This would be an unacceptable burden on the families of grocery workers, most of whom earn about $24,000 annually.
Mickey Kasparian, president of UFCW Local 135 in San Diego and Imperial Counties, called the offer a "deceptive bait-and-switch ploy designed to fool their own employees into believing that negotiations are proceeding smoothly."
"Management's gesture rings hollow more for what it lacks than what it contains," said Greg Conger, president of UFCW Local 324 in Orange County. "To succeed, the newest tactic assumes that the actuarial projections that must accompany such proposals are so complex in nature that they won't be independently investigated or researched by media or by members themselves."
"Unfortunately, Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons did not include in their newest offer the additional funding that will be necessary to avoid the very cuts they claim to be off the table," said Bill Lathrop, president of UFCW Local 1167 in the Inland Empire.
"Unfortunately, the companies have agreed to only a half-dozen face-to-face meetings in the past four months, despite the UFCW's willingness to meet at any time and at any location," said Connie M. Leyva, president of UFCW Local 1428 in the Pomona/Claremont area.
"The employers need to return to the table with real compromises that the workers can accept," Leyva said.
Contacts:
UFCW 8-Golden State:
Jacques Loveall, (916) 786-0588, ext.
201
or
UFCW Local 135:
Mickey Kasparian, (619)
298-7772
or
UFCW Local 324:
Todd Conger, (714)
920-0918
or
UFCW Local 1167:
Bill Lathrop, (800)
698-8329
or
UFCW Local 1428:
Connie M. Leyva,
(909) 626-3333