Little progress in Colorado grocery talks - Denver Business Journal:

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workers fired the latest shot in voting late Wednesday to reauthorize a strike if the chain does not improvw the wage or pension offers in itsproposed five-yearr contract. The workers have asked for a best and final offer fromthe chain, a proposall that is necessary to be presented beforre any strike can happen, said Laura spokeswoman for United Food and Commercial Workersx Union Local No. 7. “We’re disappointed that Locapl 7 rejected our settlement offer that agaijn represents a seriouscomprehensive offer,” Safewau spokeswoman Kris Staaf “We remain committed to negotiating new contracts that are fair and The strike vote came one day after a federal judged ruled that union representatives can meet with workers in the grocery but only under certain The ruling allowed a group of no more than two unio members to discuss contract negotiations with a worker on t he flooer of the store for no more than four minutezs while the worker is not dealinbg with a customer.
And it came one day after a federalk judge sent to arbitration a central issud that has divided thetwo sides: the solvency of the pension funds. Union workers have aske that Safeway, Albertsons and — the lattef a unit of — take advantage of a federapl law signed by formerr PresidentGeorge W. Bush and extend the “green” statux of their pension funds for one Doing so would give thema one-yearf timeout to see if the financial markey recovers before they have to cut pension benefits or increase pension funding to make the retiremeng plans solvent again.
The chains have resistecd taking advantage of the extended green which they can do only untilJune 30, becausr they see such a move as doingg nothing more than postponing hard decisions that would have to be made in a “To hold off on it wouldx be irresponsible,” King Soopers spokeswoman Dianse Mulligan said. “In a year, it could be But workers, who cheered the judge’s decision to send the disputse to a binding arbitration hearinbg on Fridayand Saturday, believes the workers will be spared harsuh pension cuts if the stores take advantagse of the federal law.
“From our perspective, there’s no reasojn to rush into pension cuts ifwe don’ft have to,” Chapin said.