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Safeway warehouse
workers strike
after talks fail

The effect on Hawaii,
which is one of 3 states
served by the California
facility, is uncertain

---

By Kiley Russell
Associated Press

TRACY, Calif. -- About 1,200 workers at a massive warehouse that supplies Safeway Inc. supermarkets in Hawaii went on strike today after talks between union leaders and management broke down.

Workers are demanding higher wages and safer conditions at the facility, which serves 245 Safeway stores in Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii.

A Safeway spokesperson could not be reached for immediate comment as to how the strike would affect stores here.

"We'd rather lose our jobs than continue to work under these conditions," said Antonio Camacho, who has worked for two years loading pallets with groceries. "My back is hurting so bad that I'm having trouble meeting my production standards."

The strike began after an hour of talks between leaders of Teamsters Local 439 and management officials of the Summit Logistics warehouse. Workers immediately left their jobs and drove away from the complex.

Earlier in the day, about 300 workers -- some carrying picket signs and others rallying around a huge American flag -- blocked trucks from leaving the warehouse and tried to prevent union leaders from getting inside.

The workers kicked and pounded on a pickup truck carrying Ed Speckman, the union's chief negotiator, as it headed toward the warehouse. Speckman and other union officials finally got through to the warehouse.

In addition to picketing at the warehouse in Tracy, about 65 miles east of San Francisco, union members plan to distribute leaflets in front of as many as 42 Safeway stores -- primarily in the San Francisco Bay area -- urging consumers to boycott the Pleasanton, Calif.-based chain.

The contract between the union and Summit Logistics, which runs the giant warehouse for Safeway, expired Sept. 27. Members of Local 439 voted overwhelmingly Saturday to reject a final proposal from Summit.

Unsafe working conditions and low wages are the chief complaints of the union, which represents warehouse workers and truck drivers. Workers also want a say in establishing production standards.

The union is also upset by the company's insistence that its 500 drivers be paid per delivery and not an hourly rate.

Workers voted Oct. 3 to reject an offer from Summit which would have given them a 4.8 percent pay raise every year for the next five years, a 10 cent-an-hour hike in pension benefits and a guarantee that health insurance costs stay level for five years.

Summit President Martin Street said the company rejected two counteroffers from the union during the eight weeks of negotiations, including its latest for a 20 percent across-the-board wage increase. Street said the union also wanted production standards that would drive overall labor costs up by about 20 percent, costing the company $60 million in the first year alone.

Under the current contract, Teamsters drivers make $18 an hour, and warehouse workers earn $11 to $13 an hour. The company has said, in case of a strike, it would use 1,400 replacement warehouse workers and 250 drivers it has put up in local hotels.