Kroger union to vote Thursday

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kroger Co. negotiators and union leaders have reached a tentative contract agreement, setting up a Thursday vote in which 3,300 workers in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky will decide whether to end a two-month strike.\nLeaders of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 will present the offer to members Thursday morning with a vote scheduled for later that day, said Jim Lowthers, the local's president.\nNegotiators worked out an agreement in Cincinnati over seven hours Sunday and 10 on Monday, Lowthers said. The sides came together at a federal mediator's request for the first substantial bargaining in more than a month.\nLowthers declined to discuss agreement details, but he acknowledged that healthcare concerns -- the primary sticking point in negotiations -- had been addressed.\nA Kroger spokesman could not be reached for comment.\nUnion workers have been off the job since Oct. 13, when contract negotiations with the Cincinnati company fell apart.\nThe chain has closed 44 supermarkets in the three states, including 37 in West Virginia. About 1,700 West Virginia employees won unemployment benefits Nov. 20 in a ruling that gave badly-needed cash to strikers and bolstered the union's hand.\nKroger appealed the West Virginia decision, and a decision is expected in about a week.\nOhio has rejected requests for jobless benefits, while Kentucky has not yet ruled.\nBoth sides have felt pressure to settle so stores could reopen for at least the end of the Christmas shopping season, Lowthers said. It would probably take about a week to restock and reopen the stores, he said.\nHealthcare costs have been the main obstacle to a contract. Union leaders said the company's previous offer would have left the local's health fund $4 million to $6 million short by the end of a four-year contract, requiring workers to pay medical costs out of pocket.\nKroger officials said their offer to boost fund contributions by 8 percent would keep the fund at previous levels.\nTalks to settle a Southern California grocery store labor dispute that has idled workers since Oct. 11 broke off Sunday. Healthcare is also the major issue there, and Kroger-owned Ralphs is one of three chains involved.\nAlso, nearly 4,000 Indiana Kroger workers have worked without a new contract for nearly a month.\nSupermarket chains are facing competition from box stores like Wal-Mart and drug store chains, putting them under pressure to cut costs, including skyrocketing worker healthcare costs.