Stater Bros. reaches tentative deal with union after months-long dispute

Grocery store chain Stater Bros. and the union representing 12,000 workers across Southern California have reached an agreement on a new contract, averting a possible strike.

No specifics of the proposed three-year agreement were released, but union officials said Thursday that it includes higher wages, increased pension contributions, healthcare improvements and enhanced staffing and safety protections.

Labor tensions had escalated significantly in recent weeks. Workers had been operating under an expired contract since March and voted overwhelmingly on July 25 to authorize a strike.

United Food and Commercial Workers had filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the San Bernardino-based grocery chain had engaged in surveillance, interrogation and retaliation against workers exercising union rights. The union also accused the grocery chain of bargaining in bad faith during nearly five months of negotiations.

Stater previously disputed the claims.

“We have always negotiated with our union partners in good faith and will continue to do so,” the company said in an earlier statement. “The fact is that the business environment in our industry has changed significantly.”

As negotiations stalled, union leaders had called for a boycott of the company’s Pasadena store on Monday. A separate boycott of the Huntington Beach location scheduled for Thursday was canceled after the agreement was reached.

“Negotiations were conducted in good faith, with both sides working hard to reach a fair deal that supports our teammates and holds the line on prices for our customers,” Stater Bros. said in a statement. “We appreciate the collaborative effort and are encouraged that the Union is recommending the agreement for ratification.”

The breakthrough came after a two-day bargaining session.

“This victory wouldn’t have been possible without the power of our collective action,” the UFCW Stater Bros. Bargaining Committee said in a statement.

“The workers, our members, really had to stand up and stand together,” UFCW 770 President Kathy Finn said.

The deal must be ratified by union members before taking effect.

In March, Stater Bros. laid off 63 clerks across four stores in Southern California for the first time in the company’s 89-year history, citing inflation and incoming tariffs.

Chief Executive Pete Van Helden said the layoffs were necessary to keep prices competitive with non-union retailers like Target and Walmart. The union accused the company of using the layoffs to intimidate workers during contract negotiations, which it denied.

The resolution brings Stater Bros. in line with other major Southern California grocery chains whose workers ratified similar contracts last month covering Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions.

Stater Bros. Markets opened its first store in Yucaipa, Calif., in 1936. The chain employs about 18,000 workers in 167 locations, according to its website.