Strike Against 'Big Three' Grocery Chains in Southern California Could Be Just Around the Corner

UFCW Local 770 president Rick Icaza (center) speaks at today's rally in Los Angeles. At right in the yellow shirt is Connie Leyva, president of  local 1428. To Icaza's left is Maria Elena Durazo, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. The "L.A. Isn't Wisconsin" signs refer to the state's controversial new law banning public employee collective bargaining.

Southern California Market Region
News/Analysis

The ongoing contract negotiations between the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union in Southern California and the region's "Big Three" grocery chains - Kroger Co.-owned Ralphs', Safeway's Vons and Albertsons, which is owned by Supervalu, Inc. - took a turn closer in the direction of a strike by union grocery clerks today when the presidents of the seven union locals in the region and leaders of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor held a rally and press conference late this morning at the federation's headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

Attending the event in support of the UFCW locals and its members were numerous representatives from labor unions representing police officers, firefighters, teachers, truck drivers, warehouse workers and even actors and entertainers, along with union members who work in stores owned and operated by the three supermarket chains.

The many representatives of the allied unions, which are a part of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor umbrella organization, said at today's press conference they would support the UFCW locals should they decide to go out on strike against the "Big Three" unionized supermarket chains, which also happen to be the three market-share-leading grocers in Southern California - Ralphs' being number one, followed by Safeway's Vons and Supervalu's Albertsons.

Strike could come soon

Talk of a strike was the topic on the minds and lips of the presidents of the UFCW union locals and their supporters today at the rally and press conference - and the rhetoric was heated.

For example, in describing the key sticking point between union negotiators and representatives of the three grocery chains, which is a proposal by the grocers to shift a significant percentage of employee health benefits now being paid by the retailers to store employees, Greg Conger, president of UFCW Local 324, called the health care benefits cost-shifting proposal by the "Big Three" chains: "A ruse that ignores the fact that these companies continue to post multi-billion profits annually. That isn’t an insignificant footnote," Conger said. "The impact of these proposals is a matter of life and death for some of our members."

All the Southern California UFCW presidents at the rally and press conference today said a strike against the three grocery chains could be coming soon, which was an obvious strategic attempt, as was the rally and press conference itself, to energize the ongoing contract negotiations, which have been going on since April and are at what is essentially an impasse over the health care benefit cost-shifting proposal by the grocers.

We aren't suggesting a strike might not be coming soon. Rather we're suggesting today's event is the opening salvo; a message of sorts to the grocery chains in advance of calling an actual strike, which the union and its members would like to avoid, as would the grocers.

Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 was blunt and to the point speaking today about the current state of the contract negotiations and his feelings about the likelihood of a strike happening, saying: "We're so far apart, if something doesn't happen soon, we will have a strike."

As we've previously reported, on April 21 union members authorized the UFCW locals to call a strike if and when it decides to. Since then contract negotiations have continued. In May a federal mediator was brought in at the request of the UFCW to assist with the talks. The strike clock gained a significant amount of time today.

The three grocery chains reacted to today's rally and press conference by issuing a joint press release in which they said: "We are still actively negotiating, and any talk of a strike is unnecessary. The only place where we can reach an agreement is at the bargaining table, and we believe our focus should be there, reaching a fair and reasonable contract."

As we've noted in our ongoing reporting and analysis of the contact negotiations, the grocers are serious about shifting a significant percentage of employee health costs to the workers. These chain's want employees to pay more out-of-pocket than they currently are (the cost-shifting) for monthly premiums, deductibles, co-payments and a couple other aspects involving the health care plans.

The UFCW said in late May the proposal submitted to it by the "Big Three" chains was unacceptable. Since then neither side has made a significant enough compromise. Therefore the talks have been and are at a stalemate in terms of moving forward.

A couple of our sources at the chains are telling us that if a strike is called there's a feeling of confidence among certain senior management people that because of the high unemployment rate in much of Southern California (the state has a 12.4% jobless rate) that they could hire replacement workers rapidly, which would come after the union calls a strike.

There's been discussion among the union locals about whether to strike all three chains at one time or one or two initially. Albertsons is the most often mentioned target we hear from our union sources if just one chain is chosen initially. But we are increasingly being told by our grocer sources that if one or two of the three chains is targeted  initially, the others will call an employee lockout in support of whatever chain or chains get hit with a strike first, in a united-we-stand solidarity pact.

Changed landscape: 2003-to-2011

The last time there was a major grocery strike in Southern California - the affected area includes all of Southern California to the Mexico border, the south coast to Mammoth, and the southern Central Valley - was in 2003. That strike lasted about five months before the grocers and union locals reached a contract agreement that was ratified by the union members.

In the nearly nine years since the 2003 grocery strike, the food and grocery retailing competitive landscape in Southern California  has changed considerably.

While Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons remain the "Big Three" market share leaders in the region, their overall and respective shares have been eroded considerably, primarily by a number of non-union food retailers in the region, including: Costco, Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's, WinCo Foods, Smart & Final, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and a number of others, including more than one ethnic-focused grocery chain, plus dollar/99-cent and drug store chains, all after a share of the food and grocery dollar in mega-populated Southern California.

Combined, these retailers have opened thousands of new stores in Southern California over the last nine years, exerting significant competitive and price pressure on the "Big Three."

In fact, the vast majority of all the new food and grocery-focused square-footage in the region over the last eight years has been from these and other non-union grocers, as the "Big Three" have opened only a small number of new stores each year from 2003 to the present, compared to the non-union players.

Strange bedfellows

It's just this phenomenon that presents a "Catch 22" when it comes to a strike by the UFCW union against the "Big Three" unionized chains - a strike against Ralphs', Vons and Albertsons would provide a major benefit to Walmart, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Tesco's Fresh & Easy and the other non-union chain's mentioned above, the store-level workers of which the UFCW is trying to organize in various degrees and hopes will eventually become unionized.

For example, nothing would make Tesco CEO Philip Clarke and his deputy, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason, happier than to see the UFCW, which has been conducting an aggressive three-plus year campaign to unionize Fresh & Easy's store workers, call a strike against the "Big Three" chains so it could, it hopes, grab some much-needed added sales and business for its 108 stores in Southern California and the Bakersfield region in the southern Central Valley.

And ironically, the longer a strike against the three chains the better for Fresh & Easy, because in addition to allowing the fledgling 175-store chain to grab whatever added sales it could, a protracted strike would also allow new shoppers to become familiar with Fresh & Easy because in strike situations shoppers tend to seek out grocery stores they haven't shopped in before.

There are also about 2 million union members (if you include family members) in Southern California. A big part of organized labor's strategy in 2003, and it would be again this year, in a strike is to convince as any of those union family members as possible not to set foot in a grocery store owned by Kroger, Safeway or Supervalu, along with getting UFCW members and their families elsewhere in California and across the U.S. to boycott stores owned by the grocers.

The "Big Three" chains in Southern California, plus Stater Bros., lost over $2 billion in sales during the about five months the 2003 strike lasted. That's why the longer a strike lasts the better it would be for Tesco's Fresh & Easy and all the other non-union chain's mentioned earlier. Stater Bros., which is unionized and is the fourth-largest chain in the region, is negotiating on its own with the UFCW locals this time around. Historically it has participated in contract negotiations with the other three chains.

If you listen closely, you can even hear the sounds of ringing cash registers in the Southern California offices of those non-union food and grocery retailers, including at Fresh & Easy's headquarters in El Segundo, as the possibility of a strike against the "Big Three" chains gets closer to becoming a reality.

Related Stories

May 23, 2011: Odds Southern California Grocery Store Workers Will Strike Highest Since Contract Talks Began

May 12, 2011: Execs, Employees and the UFCW Union: A Look Under (Tesco) Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's 'Hood'

April 25, 2011: Talks Between Southern California's 'Big Three' Grocery Chains and UFCW Union Resume Tomorrow

April 21, 2011: Southern California Grocery Store Workers Vote to Authorize Strike Against 'Big Three' Chains

April 20, 2011: Pro-Union Workers' Group and UFCW Union Speak Out On Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's $300 Million-Plus Loss

April 5, 201: UFCW Union, Activists and Employees Hold Pro-Union Rallies at 25 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in California

Kroger Co. Aiming to Raise $5 Million For Hunger Programs With Promotion and Campaign

Grocers Doing Good

Food and Grocery retailing company Kroger's two- week Bringing Hope to the Table chain-wide promotion and fundraising campaign to raise millions of dollars for Feeding America food banks across America is into its second week. The program started May 29 and ends June 11.

Kroger Co., which is the second-largest retailer of food and groceries in the U.S. after Walmart Stores, Inc., says its goal in the two-week campaign is to generate a whopping $4.5-$5 million worth of financial and food product donations for over 80 Feeding America food banks in regions and cities where its numerous grocery chains are located, including in California, Nevada and Arizona, where Tesco has its 175 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores.

All of the retailer's grocery chains in California - Ralphs and Food 4 Less in Southern and Central California; Foods Co. in Northern California - Arizona - Fry's Food Stores - and Nevada - Smith's and Food 4 Less - are participating in the program and promotion, along with all its other divisions and chains located throughout the U.S. (Kroger's Los Angeles-based Food 4 Less chain also has stores in Illinois and Indiana.)

Vendor Partners

The May 29-June 11 promotion is a partnership between Kroger and a number of its vendors, including Kraft Foods, General Mills, Pepsi/Frito-Lay, Clorox Co. and others, including the brands and products pictured above.

How it works: Products from these consumer packaged goods companies are identified on shelves throughout the stores with the Bringing Hope to the Table yellow shelf talkers pictured below. When shoppers purchase these brands and items, the companies make a donation as part of Kroger's campaign to raise money for Feeding America and its local food banks.

Additionally, the participating vendors are also supporting the Kroger campaign financially by giving money when shoppers download certain digital coupons from Kroger's website, as you can see here.

Kroger Co. has also set up a special website (here) where individuals can locate and make a donation to their local Feeding America food bank, using the form on this page.

The two-week Bringing Hope to the Table promotion is part of Kroger's (and its associates) on-going campaign and commitment to raising money and food donations for Feeding America and it food bank network.

For example, in Southern California employees of Kroger's Ralphs' chain visit a local Feeding America food bank in San Diego twice each month to fill bags of food for the BackPacks program for children. The kids take the free backpacks filled with food home with them as a way to ensure there's enough food on the table, not only to bring them hope but to fill their stomachs and help keep them alert at school.

Additionally, each year on the weekend before the famous Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, California, employees of Kroger's Ralphs' and Food 4 Less chains in Southern California participate in  "Operation Gobble Gobble," which is the city of Pasadena's annual holiday hunger outreach project.

The program annually provides full holiday meals for about 400 local families. The Ralphs' and Food 4 Less stores in Southern California donate turkeys, stuffing mix, vegetables and pumpkin pies for each of the meals. In addition, numerous associates volunteer their time along with other community members to fill the food boxes and distribute them to the participating food banks and pantries.

Employees at a number of Kroger's other U.S. grocery chains are donating their time to help the hungry just like the associates in Southern California are.

Ralphs' president Mike Donnelly says the Southern California food banks benefiting from the Bringing Hope to the Table campaign are: Feeding America San Diego; FIND (Indio); Food Bank of Santa Barbara County; Food Share (Oxnard); Los Angeles Regional Foodbank; Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County; and Second Harvest Food Bank Serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

Last year Ralphs-Food 4 Less combined provided over $4 million in financial and food assistance to local food banks in the states and regions where its stores operate, according to Donnelly.

According to Kroger Co., all its chains combined provided about $11.5 million in financial assistance and more than 65 million pounds of food to local food banks in 2010.

Kroger Co. has also been operating a food rescue program since 2008, called the Perishable Donations Partnership (PDP). Under the program, the retailer's supermarket chains can donate fresh meat, produce, dairy and bakery items that can no longer be sold to local food banks.

Last year the PDP program resulted in millions of pounds of perishable food that otherwise would have been thrown away being donated by Kroger-owned chains to the food banks.

Last year, Kroger raised about $4 million - $3 million in cash and $1 million in food product donations - in its two-week Bringing Hope to the Table promotion and campaign. [Read our June 10, 2010 story here: Kroger Co. Launches Two-Week 'Bringing Hope to the Table' Campaign; Commits $4 Million to 'Feeding America'.]

Over the last decade Kroger Co. says it has donated the equivalent of 560 milon meals to food banks in the parts of the U.S. were its supermarket chains and stores operate.

That, and all the above, is an example of a "Grocer Doing Good" on a significant and meaningful scale.

Click here to learn more about Kroger's Bringing Hope to the Table campaign.

Below are a few facts about hunger and food insecurity in America from Feeding America:

>37 million American's don’t know where they'll get their next meal.
>14 million of them are children
>3 million of them are senior citizens.
>36% of these households have one or more working adults.
>48% of these households are in rural and suburban areas.

 Click here to learn more at Feeding America's website.

Kroger's Ralphs-Food 4 Less Chain Launches Fundraising Drive for USO and Members of the U.S. Military

Southern California Market Region Report
Memorial Day 2011

Kroger's Los Angeles-based Ralphs/Food 4 Less chain is launching a checkstand-based fundraising drive for the USO (United Service Organizations) in its 254 Ralphs' banner supermarkets in California and Nevada and its 147 Food 4 Less and Foods Co discount warehouse stores in California, Nevada, Illinois and Indiana.

The USO has for 70-years provided aid, comfort, cheer and entertainment to active duty members of the U.S. military and their families throughout the United States and abroad.

Kroger's Los Angeles-based Ralphs/Food 4 Less chain is launching a checkstand-based fundraising drive in its 254 Ralphs' supermarkets in California and Nevada and 147 Food 4 Less and Foods Co price-impact warehouse stores in California, Nevada, Illinois and Indiana, for the  (United Service Organizations), which for 70-years has provided active duty members of the U.S. military and their families with aid, comfort, cheer and entertainment throughout the United States and abroad.

The fundraising program, called "Honoring Our Heroes," is being launched in the 401 stores this week and will run until August 13, 2001, according to Mike Donnelly, president of Ralphs, and Bryan Kaltenbach, president of Kroger's Food 4 Less/Food Co chain.

Customers of the stores can donate money to the USO simply by donating their spare change (currency excepted as well) in collection canisters that have been set up at the checkstands in all the stores.

All the money donated between now and August 13 will be given directly to the USO to help it support the numerous programs and entertainment events it provides to members of the U.S. armed services.

Kicking off the program today, Ralphs' Donnelly said: "We salute our troops and thank them for the sacrifices they make to protect us. Ralphs is delighted to be able to help our troops through our support of local USO chapters."

Kaltenbach, president of sister chain Food 4 Less/Foods Co, echoed Donnelly's sentiments: "We are very proud to show our support of the U.S. military by raising funds for the USO," he said. "The USO's mission is important in letting active duty military personnel know the citizens of the United States appreciate their efforts."

The Ralphs/Food 4 Less in-store fundraising program is part of a major commitment Kroger Co. made earlier this year at the Daytona 500 auto race to expand what has been an ongoing relationship it has with the USO.

At the race on February 20, Kroger Co. presented the USO with a check for $400,000, which was donated by customers and employes from fundraising programs held in 2010 at about 1,300 Kroger-operated stores across the U.S., including its Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Dillon's and Baker's banner chain's.

Kroger announced at the event a pledge to expand its efforts this year to raise even more money for the USO through in-store fundraisers like the checkstand donation program, various online-based promotions and a text-to-give campaign it conducted during the race on February 20, in which the grocer sent text messages to its data base of shoppers encouraging them to text "USO" to 27722 during the race as a way of donating $10 to USO programs.

Kroger has over 350 associates who are active duty or reservist members of the U.S. military, according to the company.

At the Daytona 500 the food and grocery retailer, the USO and JTG Daugherty Racing painted a special Kroger emblem on the red, white and blue #47 Kroger-USO car, which was driven by NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte. The emblem featured the names of the more than 350 Kroger associates who are active duty or reservist members of the U.S. military. Kroger was the exclusive retail partner for the Daytona 500 race.

Earlier his month, on May 3, consumer packaged goods giant Proctor & Gamble (P&G) teamed up with Kroger in an ongoing nationwide and chain-wide promotion to raise even more money for the USO as part of the retailer's "Honoring Our Heroes" campaign and its year-long commitment to the service organization.

As part of the partnership Kroger and P&G created a digital opportunity for people to virtually “shake the hand of a hero," which is considered the proper gesture to use with U.S. troops in uniform to thank them for their service to our country.

The first 50,000 people to utilize the web application to shake a hero’s hand on http://www.honoringourheroes.com/ will receive a special offer on one of the following P&G brands: Tide, Downy, Gillette, Pantene, Old Spice and Prilosec, according to P&G.

Through the partnership with P&G, Kroger will make a $250,000 donation to the USO, which is in in addition to the money raised during the May-August checkstand fundraising program, which is also being conducted at some of Kroger's other chains in the U.S.

Kroger and P&G also launched their joint-program in early May by offering a week-long promotion at all the retailer's chains and stores in which shoppers received a $5 instant rebate when they purchased any 10 P&G brand items out of many offered in what was named the "Mega Event" sales promotion.

You can visit the Kroger-Proctor & Gamble "Honoring Our Heroes" website here. It includes a variety of features, including ways all of us can honor those serving in the U.S. military. And with Memorial Day just a few days away, now is the perfect time to what you can to show your support.

The USO, which was founded 70-years ago, has a simple but not always easy to fulfill mission, which is to lift the spirits of America's troops and their families wherever they are deployed.

The non-profit service organization meets its mission by offering active duty members of the military and their families an extensive range of programs at more than 160 locations in 27 U.S. states and in 14 countries.

It also puts on hundreds of entertainment events each year as part of its spirit-lifting mission. The entertainers the USO brings to the troops throughout the world, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, include famous comedians and singers - and much more.

The upcoming Memorial Day weekend is a big time of year for the USO, although so are the other 360-plus days of the year.

You can learn how the USO is honoring active duty troops and veterans this Memorial Day Weekend at its website here, along with learning about ways you can help the organization in its mission to lift the spirits of members of the U.S. military and their families 365-days of the year.

Related Story - May 25, 2011: 'Side by Side': Wine at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Aids America's Wounded Warriors.

Odds Southern California Grocery Store Workers Will Strike Highest Since Contract Talks Began

Southern California Market Region
News/Analysis

The odds unionized grocery store workers in Southern California, (and the Central Coast and southern Central Valley) strike one or more of the region's "big three" unionized supermarket chains - Kroger's Ralphs, Safeway's Vons, and Albertsons, which is owned by Supervalu, Inc. - are much more likely today than they were just a week ago, based on our reporting and in our analysis.

Why? Last week representatives for the three grocery chains noted above presented negotiators from the United Foods & Commercial Workers' (UFCW) locals in Southern California with a proposal that details the health care plan changes - read significant cuts - the grocers want as part of the new three year contract that's being negotiated involving the chains and the about 60,000 unionized grocery store workers in the region.

Last month the union presented the chains with their health care plan proposal. The proposal from the grocers was their counter-offer, which is what the union says it's been waiting for since April.

And the presidents of the UFCW locals in Southern California pronounced the proposal, which would shift a considerable amount of health care costs to the store workers, dead on arrival.

For example, Ricardo Icaza, the president of UFCW local 770 which represent about 36,000 of the 60,000 unionized retail clerks in a region that stretches from Santa Maria on the Central Coast to Bakersfield in the southern Central Valley and includes Los Angeles County out to the Lancaster/Palmdale area in the desert, said in a note to union members on Thursday, May 19: "Ralphs, Vons, and Albertsons presented your union with a proposal that would effectively destroy your health coverage." No ambiguity in that statement.

On Friday, Michael Straeter, president of UFCW local 1442 which represents unionized retail clerks from Malibu to Long Beach in Southern California, had a similar message for the members of his local, saying: " [The] health care proposal from the company [Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons] shifts 80% of new costs to you," meaning the union members. "Stay strong as negotiations continue," he added in the message to the rank-and-file.

Straeter, who says the proposed health care plan changes will shift $450 million over three years from the supermarket chains to workers, also told his members to prepare to start picketing as early as this coming weekend.

The negotiations between UFCW representatives and the three supermarket chains will continue this week. The negotiators for both parties will once again be joined by a federal mediator, who's assisting with the talks at the request of the UFCW union.

But the union locals are thinking beyond what is an obvious impasse, in our analysis - the grocers say their proposal regarding the heath care plan changes is "reasonable" but the UFCW locals say it's a non-starter, which equals an impasse for all intents and purposes, even though the negotiations will continue. The federal mediator will obviously be busy mediating this week.

Union stewards and picket captains have been told by the union leaders to attend a meeting on Thursday, May 26, in which the possibility of forming picket lines at one or all three chains will be discussed. A UFCW representative told us Friday that the picket signs are already being made.

The UFCW members authorized the union on April 21 to call a strike if and when it decides to do so. (See the related stories linked at the end of this piece.)

What we're being told by more than one source a present - and this information is always subject to change - is that if a strike is called anytime soon, the current plan is to stage a walkout on Supervalu's Albertson's chain, which is the number three grocer among the "big three" in terms of annual sales and market share in Southern California. Kroger's Ralphs' is number one. Safeway Stores-owned Vons is number two.

We're also being told from other sources, on the chain side of the equation in this instance, that Ralphs' is likely to lock its employees out of the stores (meaning no work and no pay) should the UFCW and its members strike Albertsons. If Ralphs does this, Safeway's Vons is likely to follow suit, although most of our sources are far less sure about Safeway's thinking on the matter than they are about Ralphs'.

Kroger Co.'s Ralphs' division is still in court with the UFCW union over various actions involving the 2003 Southern California grocery workers strike and lockout by the chain, in fact.

The stakes are very high for the UFCW locals for a number of reasons if they do call a strike .

First, if they strike one or more of the three chains, they will be handing a whole bunch of new business to the many non-union grocers in Southern California, including Walmart, Target, Costco, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market/Henry's, Bristol Farms, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and others, that they're trying to unionize. Most of the non-union chains are already gearing up for a strike and thinking about the extra business it could bring their stores.

Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons are already under heavy pressure from the non-union players in Southern California that since the last contract was signed in 2007 have continued to grow - not to mention there being new entries to the market since 2007, like Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which now has 101 stores in Southern California and seven in the Bakersfield region (out of its 175 total in California, Nevada and Arizona) - and take sales and market share from the "big three."

All of the fastest growing chains in the region are non-union. The "big three" unionized chains have added few stores in Southern California in comparison to all of the non-union grocers mentioned above.

At the other side of the negotiating table, Kroger's Ralphs, Safeway's Vons and Supervalu' Albertsons appear at present to be very firm on the cost reductions they say they need in the health care plans. They're saying very little publicly but are offering the message that health care costs are at the top of the list of their fastest-rising expenses.

 Look for the end of the week starting today to be a crucial point in time in the labor negotiations. If no material progress is made between the two parties this week - and there isn't going to be unless the chain's take back much of what they're asking for in the health benefits proposal, which the odds of happening are less than 5% in our analysis - then a complete impasse will be reached, meaning the union will feel the need to seriously consider a strike against one of more of the three chain's at week's end.

We suspect picketing and leafleting will come first, before a strike is called, if it is. We also don't expect a strike to be called this week or next week. But the following week,if there's no material improvement in the negotiations, the hoof beats for a strike on at least one chain are going to be very loud, in our analysis.

And perhaps the "big three" unionized chains would welcome a strike if avoiding one means giving in significantly on the takeaways they're asking for in their proposal. (They will take less than what they desire and are asking for now in the long run though. But it could be a very long run.)

Our take is that the grocers are very serious about achieving some significant savings in their costs for the union employees' health care plan. It's also our take that the union is very serious about accepting more than a small percentage of increased costs to workers for their health care plans. Stalemate

But the potential labor pool in Southern California is vast at present, since unemployment in most of the region remains in double digits. We suspect people would be lined up by the hundreds at Ralphs supermarkets in Southern California if, for example, the UFCW strikes Albertsons, and Kroger's Ralphs locks out it employees.

For example, grocers opening new stores in Southern California over the last three years generally get four or five times as many people applying for jobs at the store then they have positions available.

Additionally, organized labor and unions also are at an all time low in terms of the percentage of Americans that  favor them. A strike by the UFCW of one or more of the "big three" unionized supermarket chains could have the undesired consequence for the UFCW of the majority of consumers coming out in support of the grocers rather than the store employees, particularly because in times of high unemployment both the unemployed, the under-employed and insecure employed have far less sympathy for and are less likely to support labor strikes.

In contrast, if the union thinks the offer by the grocers is outrageous, taking more time to build that case among the grocery shopping public in Southern California could lead to greater support for the store workers than if a strike is called within the next few weeks, for example. It's all about gaging and influencing public opinion.

Another factor worth noting is that the ever-increasing price of food at the grocery store and cost of gasoline at the pump is giving the average consumer a considerable amount of grief and causing added worries on top of those created by a still high unemployment situation, ongoing housing crisis and anemic economy. Those aren't the factors that generally provide a warm reception to strikes, particularly when they are at grocery stores, a place all consumers in Southern California and elsewhere frequent regularly.

Related Stories

April 25, 2011: Talks Between Southern California's 'Big Three' Grocery Chains and UFCW Union Resume Tomorrow

April 21, 2011: Southern California Grocery Store Workers Vote to Authorize Strike Against 'Big Three' Chains

Talks Between Southern California's 'Big Three' Grocery Chains and UFCW Union Resume Tomorrow

Southern California Market Region:
Labor Negotiations Update

Negotiations between representatives of the seven United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union locals in Southern California and representatives of the region's "big three" grocery chains - Kroger Co.-owned Ralphs, Safeway's Vons, and Albertsons, which is owned by Supervalu, Inc. - are set to resume tomorrow, and run until Thursday, according to Michael Straeter, president of Local 1442.

Following the three days of negotiations this week, plans are for the talks to continue on the same Tuesday- through-Thursday schedule from May 2 -to- 9, Straeter said today.

Kroger Co., Safeway Stores, Inc. and Supervalu, Inc. are the top three supermarket chains (in order of how they're listed) in the U.S., based on annual sales.

Ralphs (number one), Vons and Albertsons are also the top-three food and grocery retailers in Southern California, followed by Stater Bros., which is fourth in market share.

Stater Bros. is normally part of the contract negotiations along with the "big three." However, CEO Jack Brown, who's been a leader in union-grocery labor relations in the Southern California market for decades, this year decided to have Stater Bros. negotiate with the UFCW locals on its own, rather than being a part of the four chain group. The negotiations with Stater Bros. are currently taking place.

The last union contract in Southern California was signed in 2007. That contract expired in March of this year. Since then, the union grocery clerks and the unionized chains in Southern California have been working on a day-to-day basis, under the terms of the old contract.

Last week, UFCW-member grocery clerks in Southern California voted to authorize a strike against the three supermarket chains.

No strike has yet been called.

Both parties have said they want to reach a deal and avoid a strike and walkout by workers. The talks starting tomorrow and continuing until May 9 are designed to achieve that objective.

But when it comes to labor contract negotiations, particularly in challenging times like at present, both God and the Devil are in the details for the negotiating parties.

As such, the Southern California union locals and the three grocery chains are prepared to travel a rough and long road before they get to the end and agree on a contract that can then be voted on (for ratification) by the UFCW-member grocery clerks.

See the two stories at the following links - April 21, 2011: Southern California Grocery Store Workers Vote to Authorize Strike Against 'Big Three' Chains; and Union Grocery Store Workers' Vote Could Authorize Strike Against Southern California's 'Big Three' Grocery Chains - for background information and details on the status of the negotiations.

Southern California Grocery Store Workers Vote to Authorize Strike Against 'Big Three' Chains

Southern California Market Region Report
News/Analysis/Commentary

In this story [April 21, 2011: Union Grocery Store Workers' Vote Could Authorize Strike Against Southern California's 'Big Three' Grocery Chains] published in the very early hours of the morning, we said members of seven UFCW retail grocery union locals in Southern California would vote overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike against the region's "big three" grocery chains - Kroger-owned Ralphs, Safeway's Vons and Albertsons, which is owned by Supervalue, Inc. - when the results of yesterday's vote were made public later today.

The results are in - and as we said would be the case, the UFCW-member grocery clerks voted by an overwhelming majority to authorize the union to call a strike if it feels its negotiations with the three supermarket chains are going nowhere, or if they become seriously bogged down.

According to representatives of the seven locals, about 90% of the UFCW members who voted yesterday, voted in favor of authorizing a strike.

There are 62,000 members of the combined seven locals. However, not all 62,000 members voted, and the UFCW officials are thus far keeping the number of members who voted yesterday under their union-label hats.

We also correctly said in our story early this morning that even though a strike would be authorized by the members, the union would not call for an employee strike/walkout of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons, but instead would use the strike authorization as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the three chains. Those negotiations are scheduled to resume next week and to continue over the next three -to- four weeks, according to union representatives and the three grocery chains.

No strike/walkout has been called by the UFCW.

The union officials hope the strike authorization provides them with some added leverage in the negotiations with the three supermarket chains, who want to reduce employee health care benefits (and expenses) and gain some other savings, as we laid out in our piece this morning.

The UFCW local officials we talked to today said no strike is planned for the immediate future. They also said the vote authorizing a strike is more than mere rhetoric; that it's a tool they will use if and when they feel it's needed.

In our early morning story we reported the three grocery chains said the union's holding a strike authorization vote was premature, since the old contract expired on March 6, 2011, and negotiations have only been going on in earnest for a few weeks.

Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons reiterated that position today in a joint statement, in which they said the authorization to strike is not only premature but, in their collective opinion, is essentially a diversion.

"Getting sidetracked by these tactics will only delay our ability to reach an agreement on a fair contract for our associates, the three grocery chains said in the joint statement. "The real work toward getting a fair contract will happen at the negotiating table and we hope that's where the union leadership will focus its attention."

As of today, here's where the grocery chains, the UFCW union-member grocery clerks and the union locals stand.

The union locals can now call a strike if they desire at any point in the negotiating process.

However, most members don't want that, as it means losing their regular paychecks from the supermarket chains for however long a strike might last. in 2007, the year the contract that expired on March 6 was ratified, negotiations between the union and the grocers took about seven weeks.

If the union does strike, the chains could fight back by locking out employees, which happened in Southern California in 2003. In a lockout the grocers hire non-union workers in an attempt to keep the stores open and sales flowing. In 2003 the retailers estimated they collectively lost about $1.5 billion because of the strike by UFCW members.

The presidents of the seven UFCW local also say the don't want to call strike, at present.

Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons are less than pleased about the strike authorization. They see it as premature and as a move by the union to play hardball early on in the negotiations.

The union local presidents, on the other hand, say the grocery chains have been stalling negotiations, so they needed to put an authorization to strike in the hip pockets of their negotiation suits.

Negotiations resume next week. Plans call for three -to- four weeks of intense negotiating, according to union officials and representatives of the three grocery chains.

If there there is a strike, the losers will be the grocery chains  - lost sales and other problems - and the UFCW-member grocery store employees - lost wages, chance of losing a job, and more.

The winners: The numerous non-union food and grocery retailers in Southern California, which include the two largest retailers in the U.S. - Walmart and Target - along with Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and a number of others.

The UFCW locals in Southern California would like to unionize all of the chains listed above.

But, ironically, if the locals do call for a strike against Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons, which account for about half of all food and grocery sales in Southern California, they will be handing a nice piece of new business (added sales) to the very same non-union food retailers they would like to unionize, giving grocers like Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which the UFCW is campaigning hard to unionize, a perfect argument as to why it should remain non-union.

That argument: Remaining non-union, among other advantages, allows it (and the others) to benefit from a strike against the 'big three chains, by gaining sales from an action (the strike) taken by the very union that (in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's case specifically and particularly) wants and asks consumers not to shop at its stores because they're non-union.

This "Catch 22" scenario is something both parties - the UFCW union locals and the "big three" union chains - should think seriously about when negotiations resume next week.

We will be covering the negotiations closely. Stay tuned.

Union Grocery Store Workers' Vote Could Authorize Strike Against Southern California's 'Big Three' Grocery Chains

Southern California Market Region Report
News/Analysis

Seven Southern California-based UFCW union locals, which represent about 62,000 unionized grocery store workers in a region stretching from coastal and inland Southern California to the Mexican border, and including the southern Central Valley, held a strike authorization vote yesterday, the result of which will be announced by the locals later today.

The vote involves negotiations the union is having with Southern California's "big three" unionized grocery chains -  Kroger-owned Ralphs, Vons, which is owned by Safeway Stores, Inc., and Albertsons, which is owned by Supervalu, Inc.

The three year contract between union grocery store workers and unionized grocers in Southern California expired on March 6. The workers, the UFCW union and the grocers have been working on a day-to-day basis since then.

The three supermarket chains also happen to be the three market share-leading food and grocery retailers in Southern California. Normally Stater Bros., which is the fourth-largest grocer in the region based on market share, would also be a party in the talks. But this time around Stater Bros. decided to negotiate separately with the UFCW because of the struggles it having in the market, as well as because as a locally-based regional chain it says it has unique needs and interests, compared to the three national grocery chains, which is true.

Gelsons, a small Southern California upscale grocery chain, is also negotiating on its own with the union.

In the past, the region's top four chains negotiated together with the UFCW on a new contract. Once an agreement was reached, nearly all of the smaller unionized chains in Southern California, such as Gelsons, would then adopt the contract agreed upon by the big chains and the union.

Most of the smaller chains will likely do the same this year, as only Gelsons (and Stater Bros, which is a medium-size chain with about $3 billion in annual sales), which has under a billion dollars in annual revenue, is negotiating on its own with the union.

In order for yesterday's vote to result in an authorization to strike, a two-thirds majority of the UFCW-member grocery clerks voting have to vote in the affirmative.

However, a two-thirds majority vote in favor of a strike against Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons doesn't mean a strike will happen soon - or ever. Instead, the union and its members can call for a walkout at anytime - and the UFCW officials wield considerable power regarding if a strike against the three chains occurs, and if it does, when it occurs - once the members authorize it.

We will know how they voted later today when the results are posted by the union locals.

Here's our analysis of what the results of the strike authorization vote to be announced later today will be, based on conversations we've had with UFCW members and union officials in Southern California, along with a summary of what we predict will happen based on those results, should we be correct about the outcome of yesterday's vote.

First, based on our reporting, it's our analysis the UFCW members will vote by an at least two-thirds majority, if not slightly higher, to authorize a walkout against Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons.

However, we predict the presidents of the seven Southern California UFCW union locals will not call for an immediate strike against the three chains, despite the member vote to authorize the walkout.

Instead, the UFCW officials negotiating with representatives of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons will use the threat of a walkout as a negotiating tool with the chains. Leverage.

Additionally, most of the UFCW member grocery clerks we've talked with since last week, when the strike authorization vote was announced, told us they can't afford to live on the small stipend they would receive if they were to go out on strike, particularly in the current poor economy, where everyday basics like the cost of food and gasoline are going up each week.

The UFCW locals are cognizant of this reality. In fact, one Southern California UFCW official told us, based on remaining anonymous, that if yesterday's vote results in the strike authorization, the union will not call for a walkout anytime soon but instead will use the possibility of an employee walkout as part of its negotiating tool box with the representatives of the "big three" grocery chains.

Officials at the seven Southern California-based union locals believe Ralphs, Vons and Safeway are dragging their collective heels in terms of moving the negotiations along.

In turn, all three chains have said in statements last week and this week they believe the union officials have acted prematurely in calling for yesterday's strike vote.

Such are the things labor negotiations are made of.

The last contract negotiations (for the contract agreement that expired March 6) took about seven months before an agreement was reached by the union and the chains. That contract was ratified in a vote by the UFCW local members in 2007. The contracts run for three years.

At the end of March, about three weeks after the expiration of the contract, the three chains sent a list of their key negotiating items, including desired take-backs, to the UFCW locals. Therefore, the negotiations have only been going on in a real sense for a little over two weeks.

The negotiations currently center on employee health benefits and pension issues. For example, the chains want employees to contribute more money out-of-pocket for their health benefit plans. The union objects to the proposed increase, saying many part-time employees already can't afford the contribution amounts and therefore are not participating in the employer-union health plan.

The three chains also want some reductions in the various types and amounts of hourly premium pay paid to the workers.

For example, union store clerks get extra hourly pay when they work on Sundays, after certain hours in the evening and on certain holidays. The chains say they need to get the premium pay rates better under control because the added labor costs are, among other things, making them less competitive against the growing number of major non-union grocers in Southern California, who don't generally offer premium pay.

Among these non-union chains are: Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. Each of these grocers has and are opening numerous new stores in Southern California, and in the process they've collectively been taking sales and market share away from the big three unionized supermarket chains, along with Stater Bros. and some of the smaller unionized chains.

We will report on the results of the strike authorization vote later today, along with offering some analysis about what the results could mean for Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons - and for the non-union grocers mentioned above.

New Retail Center Would Bring Ralphs Supermarket, Target Store to South Los Angeles' Crenshaw Corridor

Above and below: Two views of the three-level, 300,000 square-foot "District Square" retail center/mall planned for Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Road, achored by a Ralphs supermarket and Target discount format store. The Ralphs and target are at the far right. Click on the renderings to enlarge. [Credit: Charles Company.]

Southern California Market Region

[Related Story - December 16, 2010: City Council Approves Crenshaw-South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Despite Opposition]

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market isn't the only food and grocery retailer coming to Crenshaw Boulevard in south Los Angeles.

Developer Charles Company is working on bringing a Ralphs supermarket and a Target store, which would have one of its "P-Fresh" fresh food and grocery stores inside, to a new development, "District Square," on a six acre site at the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Road in south Los Angeles. Ralphs, which is the leading grocery chain in Southern California, is owned by Kroger Co.

In addition to the Ralphs supermarket and Target store, the planned $93 million, three-level, 300,000 square-foot urban retail center, which is near Los Angeles' new Exposition Light Rail Line and the popular West Angeles Cathedral, is to include stores from off-price apparel retailers Marshall's and Ross Dress for Less, along with other retail stores and restaurants, including a Chuck E Cheese.

There is an existing Ralphs supermarket at the site. It would be demolished and a new store built on the ground-level of the 300,000 square-foot urban mall/shopping center.

The Target store would be on top level, along with a parking lot, as you can see in the architect's rendering above.

Under the plans, the City of Los Angeles is providing about 30% of the developer financing, using a federal HUD loan, along with funds from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. There would then be a revenue sharing scheme that would see a percentage of sales tax money from the new center being used by the city to pay off the loans, rather than going into its general fund.

With two Fresh & Easy stores on Crenshaw Boulevard on the way [See -December 16, 2010: City Council Approves Crenshaw-South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Despite Opposition], as well as the new Ralphs and Target stores planned for the "District Square" retail center, the Crenshaw corridor in south Los Angeles, which is underserved by grocery stores offering fresh foods and groceries at reasonable prices, is about to get a food retailing shot in the arm, providing a little added shopping sustenance for residents of the Crenshaw "food desert," added sales tax revenue for the City of Los Angeles, and competition between three food retailers - Fresh & Easy, Ralphs and Target - in a part of the city that's long been trying to lure more grocers.

Related Stories

November 9, 2010: Bullseye: Target Goes From Zero-to-Eighty-Seven 'P-Fresh' Food Markets in Southern California in Under Two Years

September 24, 2010: Target to Have 'P-fresh' Fresh Food & Grocery Markets in 850 Stores By 2011 End; First Smaller Urban Store Set For Seattle in 2012

December 10, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Says 70 New Stores Possible in Los Angeles Area

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

Click here for a selection of stories and posts about the "food desert" issue

Kroger's 2010 Reusable Grocery Bag Contest Has Ended; Winners to be Named in July

Leading U.S. food, grocery and general merchandise chain Kroger Co. has ended its 2010 design a grocery shopping bag contest, and will announce the finalists, winner and runners up in July.

Read our April 19, 2010 piece - Tesco's Fresh & Easy Joins Kroger Co. in Holding Earth Month-Earth Day Reusable Bag Design Contest - for details about the 2010 Kroger contest. Also view first place winning bag in the 2009 contest at the link above.

Kroger holds the contest annually. It's open to all members of the public.

You can view the numerous bag design entries in this year's contest here.

Fresh & Easy Buzz will let you know who the winner and honorable mention designers are when Kroger announces them next month.

Kroger Co. is the largest traditional U.S. supermarket chain by annual sales volume, and the number three retailer of food and groceries in the country, after number one Walmart Stores, Inc. and number two Costco Wholesale.

In Southern California, southern Nevada and Arizona, the three states where Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has its 159 stores, Kroger operates the Ralphs Supermarkets and Food 4 Less chains (Southern California and southern Nevada), Smith's Food & Drug (Nevada), Fry's Supermarkets (Arizona) and FoodsCo (California's Central Valley and Northern California).

Reader Note: Related post: June 17, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Picks Eight Finalists in its Reusable Bag Design Contest; Website Voting Through June 30. Also: Click here for a selection of stories in Fresh & Easy Buzz on the paper or plastic and reusable shopping bag topic and issue.

Competitor News: Kroger Co. Launches Chainwide 'Design Your Own Bag' Contest Promotion; Invites Shoppers to Be 'Part of the Solution'

Green Retailing: Reusable Bag Promotions

As part of its efforts to reduce the number of single-use plastic grocery bags and paper grocery sacks it uses in its stores, and to encourage shoppers to use reusable shopping bags, the Kroger Co. supermarket chain has launched a creative promotion it calls the "Kroger Design Your Own Shopping Bag Contest," in which the grocer is inviting consumers to design their own unique versions of a reusable shopping bags, using simple design tools it is providing on special pages on its Kroger.com Website.

The consumer-interactive bag design contest began on April 6 and runs until May 15, 2009.

Budding reusable shopping bag designers can go to the special Web site page here,which offers a complete description of the contest along with a link to the design template page. (See here as well.) You have to register here to participate in the bag design contest.

The design tools on the site make creating a bag rather simple. A computer, web browser and a little imagination are all that's required.

Once a person creates his or her own bag design and submits it via the Web site page to Kroger, they receive a confirmation e-mail back from the site. The confirmation e-mail includes a picture of the designer's finished bag design. The confirmation e-mail also allows the bag designer to e-mail the finished product to friends, family members and others, who can then vote for his or her bag design in the contest, at a link provided on the confirmation e-mail.

After the contest ends on May 15, a special panel of five judges chosen by Kroger Co. will judge all of the reusable bag designs submitted. According to Kroger, the judges will give special consideration to those bags that have received the most votes from folks like you via the Website page.

The grand prize winner of the design-a-reusable-bag contest will receive a $1,000 Kroger gift card, good at any of the various supermarket chains the company operates throughout the U.S.

Kroger will award gift cards worth $250 each to the four top finalists in the contest, and the five runners up with each will get a $100 Kroger gift card.

That makes for a total of 10 winners: one grand prize winner, four finalists and five runners up.

Kroger will post the bags designed by the top ten winners on its Web site. And the grocery chain says it might feature the grand prize winner's reusable bag for sale in its supermarkets.

But Kroger is making every person who designs a bag and enters the contest a winner of sorts. Each contestant will receive a free reusable shopping bag for entering his or her design in the contest. (The free bag is pictured at left.)

Budding bag designers must have (or get one before you enter) a Kroger rewards card though to get your free bag. Here's what Kroger says about getting your free bag for entering the contest: "To receive a free reusable shopping bag, submit a design and enter your Shopper's Card number, and we'll load a free bag credit on your card ($0.99 value). This offer is limited to one bag per Shopper's Card holder. Bag credit will expire in 30 days."

[All the information needed to get started on designing your bag is here, as is the free bag information.]

[Here is a Web page listing all of the various supermarket banners Kroger Co. operates throughout the U.S. (Look in the top far upper right hand corner of the page where it says "Visit Our Consumer Sites." Click on it and there's a pull down menu of the various chains.) Here is a page to use to locate the specific Kroger Co.-owned and operated stores in the U.S.]

In California, Nevada and Arizona, the three states where Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has its 119 grocery and fresh foods markets, Kroger Co. operates hundreds of supermarkets under the following banners: Ralphs (Southern California, southern Central Valley California); Food 4 Less (Southern California, Nevada); Smith's Food & Drug (Nevada); Fry's (Arizona); Foods Co (Northern California).

Creative, consumer-interactive promotion

Kroger's design-you-own-bag promotion is a creative and interactive way to involve shoppers in the retailer's efforts to reduce single-use bag use in its stores and to promote and encourage increased use by shoppers of reusable bags.

When consumers can be involved in a process or effort (the interactive aspect of the promotion-contest) in such a way -- designing their own bag in this particular case -- they tend to invest much more in the effort. After designing your own reusable shopping bag its a good bet you will think much more about the issue than before you engaged in the creative process and contest, for example.

The reusable bag design contest also helps to raise greater awareness of the entire reusable bag use topic and issue in the U.S., particularly because Kroger is the second-largest national food and grocery retailer in the country after number one Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Lastly, the contest, and the effort Kroger Co. is putting into it, shows the retailer's corporate commitment to reducing single-use bag use in its stores and encouraging and supporting reusable bag use. (Check out Kroger's "real time" digital-counter here. It provides a running count of how many single-use carrier bags the retailer's supermarkets are saving by encouraging reusable bag use. The single-use bag reduction "real time" counter is part of the company's "Greener World, Simpler Choices" sustainability program.)

If you enter the reusable bag design contest -- best of luck. But even if you don't enter, check out the many creative designs already entered. You can view the bag designs and vote for your favorites here. There currently are nearly 31,000 different consumer-designed bags on the site.

Related Stories and Posts:

>April 30, 2009: iKristen Buys Her Fresh & Easy Bag(s) -- and It's Almost the Right One: A Tale About the Power of Social Media Sites For Grocer-Consumer Interaction

>April 27, 2009: Fresh Buzz: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Adds A flickr.com Photo Page to its Social Media Site Portfolio; Now Using Twitter, YouTube and flickr

>April 29, 2009: New York Chain Wegmans Holds Creative Bag Exchange Promotion to Encourage Reusable Bag Use; Reduce Use of Plastic Carrier Bags in Stores

>April 23, 2009: Strategy Session: The In-Store Reusable Bag-Sharing Program -- A Way For Grocers to Significantly Increase Reusable Bag Use Among Shoppers

>April 23, 2009: Virginia Congressman Jim Moran Introduces First-Ever Federal Single-Use Bag Fee Legislation Into U.S. House of Representatives on Earth Day 2009

>April 16, 2009: Two New Bills in California State Assembly Would Put 25-Cent Per Bag Fee on Both Single-Use Plastic and Paper Carrier Bags

>April 22, 2009: Earth Day 2009: California-Based Grocers Conducting A Myriad Of Reusable Bag Promotions Today; Other 'Green' Activities For Earth Day

>April 9, 2009: Competitor News: One Year Since Eliminating Plastic Bags in Stores Whole Foods Market Says Reusable Bag Use Tripled; 150 Million Bags Out of Landfills

>April 21, 2008: Earth Day 2008: Whole Foods Market, Inc. Becomes the First Major U.S. Food and Grocery Retailer to Stop Using Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bags Tomorrow

>April 8, 2009: News & Analysis: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Gets Reprieve As Manhattan Beach, California Plastic Bag Ban Law Held Up By Plastic Bag Industry Group's Lawsuit

>March 19, 2009: Another Tesco Fresh & Easy Future Market City Bans the (Plastic) Bag: No Plastic Carrier Bags In Palo Alto, CA Supermarkets Starting September 18th

>March 7, 2009: Analysis & Commentary: The Seven Retail Operations Changes Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Needs to Make to Help it Get On the Success Track

>December 7, 2008: Fresh & Easy Offers New Definition of 'Double Bagging;' Says Sales of Reusable Bags Has Doubled Since Introducing its 99-Cent Bag in October

>August 13, 2008: Tesco to Offer Shoppers Free Plastic Bags in UK Stores Only if Requested; Still Offering Plastic Bags-Only in Fresh & Easy USA Stores; No Paper Option

>August 1, 2008: Bag Bans and Fees: Seattle, Washington Imposes 20-Cent Fee On Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bags; Bans the Use of Foam Meat Trays in Supermarkets

>July 23, 2008: Plastic or Plastic: Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Bans in California Cities Threatening Tesco Fresh & Easy's Free 'Plastic Bag-Only' Policy

>September 25, 2008: Competitor News: Wal-Mart Joins Tesco, Others in Announcing A Plastic Bag Reduction Program of its Own

>April 20, 2008: Earth Day 2008: California Bag-Fee Bill AB 2058 Passes California State Assembly Natural Resource Committee; Next Stop Appropriations Committee

>April 21, 2008: Earth Day 2008: City of Los Angeles, CGA and Southern California Grocery Chains Partner in Major Reuseable Shopping Bag Giveaway Promotion

>April 18, 2008: Earth Day 2008: New Issues Are Beginning to Emerge With Growing Consumer Use of Reusable Shopping Bags: Worker Injuries, Shoplifting, 'Double-Bagging'

>April 24, 2008: Legislation: Oakland, California's Plastic Grocery Bag Ban Law Not in the 'Bag' Yet

>April 13, 2008: California State Assembly Natural Resource Committee to Vote on Statewide 25-cent Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag-Fee on Monday

>March 15, 2008: UK 'Banish The (Plastic) Bags' Campaign Update: Morrison's Latest to Make Announcement; Tesco Holds Firm

>March 5, 2008: Britain's 'Banish The (Plastic) Bag' Campaign and Tesco: London Street Artist 'Celebrates' the Tesco Plastic Bag; More UK Retailers to Charge Bag Fee

>March 8, 2008: More UK Retailers Jump On The 'Banish The (Plastic) Bag' Campaign.

>March 4, 2008: "Message From Across the Pond: Tesco is Right Square in the Middle of the 'Banish the (Plastic) Bags' Campaign in the United Kingdom

>May 1, 2008: Green Retailing Report: UK Supermarket Chain Waitrose Creates A 'Reusable-Bag Only' 'Green' Checkout Lane in One of Its Stores

>April 21, 2008: Earth Day 2008: Massachusetts'-Based Stop & Shop Supermarket Chain and General Mills Launch Free Reusable Shopping Bag Cross-Promotion For Earth Day

[Follow Fresh & Easy Buzz around on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/freshneasybuzz.]