Stater Bros. employees approve contract offer
Union members accept agreement that eliminates two-tier wage system.

Employees of Stater Bros. voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve a new contract with the supermarket chain, union officials said.

Todd Conger, a spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 324 in Buena Park, which covers Orange County and parts of Los Angeles County, said more than 90 percent of votes were in favor of the contract. Elsewhere in Southern California, five of six other UFCW locals also approved the contract, while one local hadn't yet reported results as of Wednesday night, Conger said.

The contract with Stater Bros. eliminates the two-tier wage system instituted three years ago.

Stater Bros., the fourth-largest supermarket chain in Southern California, last week became the first to agree on a tentative three-year contract with the UFCW to replace one that expires in March. Three larger chains – Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons – and the union have said they hope to avoid a strike or lockouts like the ones that kept 60,000 employees of those chains off the job during the fall of 2003 and winter of 2004.

Under the two-tier system that was instituted after the 2003-2004 dispute, new hires are paid according to a separate, lower schedule of wages and benefits than employees whose tenure predates the dispute. Eliminating the two-tier system is the union's main objective as the contract comes up for renewal.

Stater Bros. employees expressed mixed views about the tentative contract as they voted at UFCW Local 324's union hall in Buena Park on Wednesday. Those who have been with the company for more than three years said they wanted a larger wage increase than the $1.25-an-hour over three years that those at the top of the pay scale will get. Those employees, who currently earn $17.90 an hour, haven't had a raise under the current three-year contract.

However, newer employees, who stand to get larger increases as they transition to the higher wage scale, were generally pleased with the offer. Those newer employees now make up about 53 percent of the work force at the four major chains in Southern California, said Greg Conger president of Local 324.

Valerie Frausto, 29, of Whittier, has worked for Stater Bros. for 1 ½ years. She said she expects to nearly double her current $9.50-an-hour wage over the three-year contract through raises and promotions.

Stater Bros. also agreed to increase its contribution to the union's health-care plan from about $2.75 per hour worked per employee to $5.75 over the life of the contract, Conger said. However, that is contingent on the other chains agreeing to pay the same amount. If not, Stater Bros. will pay whatever the other chains agree to.

The contingency concerned Tim Algarin, 46, a La Habra resident and a 28-year employee of Stater Bros.

"It still worries me that you want us to vote on something (when) we don't know what the outcome is going to be," Algarin told Conger during a question-and-answer session. "It's like buying a car when you haven't seen it."

Conger said it would be the job of union leaders to "go out and get it from Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons." He said he hoped to be able to revise the union's health care plan to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for members.

Stater Bros. Chief Executive Jack Brown declined to speak about the contract terms while union members were still voting Wednesday.

However, Brown did say the contract "does not put Stater Bros. into any financial jeopardy. … We believe it's a fair contact. We believe we can live within the contract."