(CBS)
LOS ANGELES According to a
study released by the Commission of the Los Angeles Grocery Industry and
Community Health, grocery stores have changed from an economic sector that
provided well-paying jobs that supported the middle class into an industry
that provides low wages and few benefits.
Additionally, a "two-tier" pay scale that went into effect in 2004 after a
contentious, nearly five-month long strike and lockout, "hurts worker morale
and leads to high turnover." according to the report.
The Commission of the Los Angeles Grocery Industry and Community Health is a
consortium of politicians and religious leaders.
Some of the study's participants will discuss their findings at a news
conference at City Hall Wednesday morning.
"This two-tier system reflects the increasing polarization of wealth in Los
Angeles, the most economically segregated region in the country," the Rt.
Rev. Jon Bruno, the Episcopalian bishop of Los Angeles, and Rabbi Mark
Diamond, executive vice president of the Southern California Board of
Rabbis, wrote in the report.
"Its impact on public health has been profound, contributing to the health
care crisis and alarming rates of nutrition-related diseases in low-income
communities."
The report's release comes as the United Food and Commercial Workers union
is negotiating a contract with the Southland's three major grocery chains.
On Monday, the union agreed to extend contract talks for three weeks -- the
contract was set to expire this week -- but moved Tuesday to maintain
pressure on the grocers by scheduling a vote Sunday on whether to authorize
a strike against Albertsons at some future date.
Union officials said in 2006 that Albertsons will probably be the first
target of any separate action because the level of debt at Supervalu Inc.,
its corporate parent, made it less able to withstand a strike, the Los
Angeles Times reported. Supervalu, based in Eden Prairie, Minn., borrowed
$6.1 billion last year to purchase Albertsons and its high-end, non-union
sibling, Bristol Farms.
Three years ago, the UFCW and the parent companies of Albertsons, Ralphs and
Vons/Pavilion settled on a two-tier pay and benefits structure to settle a
labor dispute in which workers were off the job from Nov. 11, 2003 to March
2004.
The union aims to eliminate the two tiers, in which workers hired after the
lockout are paid at a lower scale than veteran grocery workers. Union
leaders are also asking the supermarkets to contribute more to the employee
health insurance trust fund.
The contract covers more than 70,000 Southland grocery workers.
Workers who were hired after the strike must wait 18 months before they are
eligible for health care benefits. Many choose not to be covered because of
high co-payments, according to UFCW officials. Family members are not
eligible for health insurance for 30 months.
Only about 7 percent of grocery workers hired after the strike are covered
by employee health insurance, compared to 94 percent under the old contract,
according to a study released earlier this year by UC Berkeley's Center for
Labor Research and Education.