SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
SAFEWAY JOB TRANSFER DISPUTE COMES TO HEAD IN UNION
VOTE
Saturday, April 11, 1992
Section: Business
Edition: Morning Final<
Page: 11E
By MICHELLE LEVANDER, Mercury News Staff Writer
Memo: Additional information attached to the end of this article.
A labor dispute between five Bay Area Teamsters locals and Safeway supermarkets is headed for a showdown Sunday when truckers and warehouse workers are scheduled to vote on management's final offer to transfer jobs to a new independently managed Tracy warehouse.
Teamsters leadership has said it will recommend rejection of the offer, which affects about 700 to 750 workers in the Bay Area. But independent management of the Safeway warehouse has threatened to begin hiring non-union workers and forgo a contract with the Teamsters altogether if the offer is not approved. On Sunday, warehouse workers from locals 70, 78, 315, 853 and 856 will vote on the offer, Teamsters said.
The dispute centers on Safeway's decision to open a new distribution warehouse in Tracy to replace outdated facilities in Richmond and Fremont. The new facility is managed by Specialized Distribution Management Inc. Although the Sacramento firm has hired more than 200 Safeway workers, it refused to guarantee transfer rights to employees in two warehouses scheduled for closure. The Tracy warehouse is scheduled to open May 1.
In protest, Teamsters have been urging customers to boycott Safeway stores for weeks and Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, had scheduled a hearing on the job security issue in San Francisco for Tuesday.
On Friday, Specialized said it offered to meet the Teamsters' request for transfer rights for Safeway employees in Richmond, Fremont, San Leandro and Oakland. The company said it would not include a probationary work period for new employees, which had been rejected by union leadership. In return, Specialized said it asked for more flexible work rules. Wage rates would range from $15.50 to $16.52 per hour.
Brenda Crum, co-owner of Specialized, said, "We feel that we have given them a real fair and equitable proposal." Crum said because the warehouse is scheduled to open in three weeks, if the offer isn't approved, the company may begin looking to hire some of the 25,000 job applicants for warehouse jobs.
But Teamsters leaders said they objected to a complicated pay package that would compensate drivers by miles driven rather than an hourly pay rate. The union also argues that transfer rights should be extended to drivers working for another independently managed Safeway distribution center in Sacramento who will lose jobs when the Tracy warehouse opens. The union also criticized the company's health care and benefits package.
Chuck Mack, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7, said, "In this area, to create a reward system based upon fast driving and putting a premium on extra miles just adds to the truck safety problem we have on the highways."
Mack said he hoped the company would return to the bargaining table if members reject the latest offer Sunday.