Food distribution disrupted by grocery workers strike
Teamster truck drivers in California have stopped making deliveries to Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons supermarkets in the state, in support of grocery clerks who have been on strike for six weeks, according to the Associated Press.
About 70,000 workers are on strike or locked out, affecting nearly 860 stores in the southern half of the state.
Some local grocery unions are planning to expand picket lines to other parts of the country, including the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, to increase pressure on Kroger Co., the parent company of Ralphs and Vons owner Safeway. Talks, which have hinged on health care issues, are stalled.
Teamsters have honored picket lines until now at individual stores, forcing management and non-union workers to unload trucks, the AP said.