Bruce “Todd” Walters, President of the San Diego and Imperial Counties branch of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, expressed his joy after 97 percent of employees from Albertsons, Ralphs, and Vons indicated their willingness to go on strike. At the negotiating sessions, Walters—along with his detail—called out grocery companies for utilizing stalling tactics since March. After many previous sessions, Walters expressed how the employees were frustrated and believe that it was finally time to take action.
The stores, on the other hand, have attempted to remain calm and diplomatic. For example, Ralphs, is open to negotiations and wants to reach a compromise with their employees. As of recently, the companies and employees have still failed to reach an agreeable resolution. Ralphs will still remain open should a strike occur, something the store wanted to make clear to customers. Albertsons and Vons have yet to comment on the situation.
Walters, who was responsible for exposing Mickey Kasparian in December, has commented on the lack of initiative from the companies. He explained how the companies are consistently delaying, which is further aggravating the situation. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the talks could be pushed back to August, even though there are currently three scheduled meetings in July. The companies and employees want to reach some sort of solution, but it isn’t clear if that will come to fruition anytime this summer. Walters has made clear that he is not afraid to issue a strike should the negotiations continue to fail.
However, Walters also clarified that a strike would only occur if the decision was unanimous. Unity and transparency are the main goals from the unions and they want to ensure that everyone vocalizes their opinion. Walters wants the companies to know that it is up to them whether the strike occurs, hoping to convince them to offer a more generous deal to their employees.
