From the www.bayareacoalition.org website:

Tentative Settlement in Grocery Negotiations

Details Will be Forthcoming

January 23, 2005

A tentative settlement was reached Sunday evening between the UFCW Bay Area Coalition and Safeway, Albertson’s, and Kroger.

After nearly 5 months of difficult negotiations, the settlement comes just one day short of the deadline we imposed on the companies to move at the table or face the possibility of a labor dispute.

Some difficult decisions had to be made in order to avoid a dispute, but with marathon bargaining sessions over the past week we were able to preserve important components of our contract.

Implementation of the agreement is pending membership votes in each of the 8 Bay Area Locals. Details about the settlement will be made available soon. We will also notify you of meetings scheduled in your area to discuss the settlement prior to casting your ballot.

A press conference will be held tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at Local 428, located at 240 South Market Street in San Jose. Members are encouraged to attend.

Good job to everyone who volunteered their time and energies into this contract fight.

Final Note: Please tell fellow members and community supporters that all actions that were planned for this week have been cancelled.