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Grocery Workers To Rally At Multiple Stores Ahead Of Possible Strike

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Union members are set for show of solidarity on Monday as Southland grocery workers edge closer to a possible strike.

The Service Employees International Union will be holding a rally at a Ralphs supermarket in Inglewood to show support for workers at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons.

 

Blanca Gallegos with SEIU local 99 told KNX 1070's Jon Baird that Inglewood is not the only place they will be demonstrating.

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"60,000 grocery workers are about to go on strike, and today local shoppers at seven different stores are going to be putting these corporations on alert that if there is a strike, we will not shop in their stores," said Gallegos.

The workers and the grocery chains have not had a contract for more than three months. Union members voted in April to authorize a strike.

The rally comes as both sides Both sides are working to avoid a repeat of the 2003 lockout, which affected Albertsons, Ralphs/Food For Less, and the Vons/Pavilions chains.

The lockout altered shopping availability for millions of Southern California customers for more than a month and resulted in tumultuous staff turnovers and rough economic times for the locked-out workers.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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