Grocery workers are gearing up to potentially strike against Stater Bros over failed contract negotiations – which could be the first picket line against the 88-year-old company.
President of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324, Andrea Zinder, said the new management refuses to meet the demands of workers.
“The new management is really profit bottom line oriented at any expense,” Zinder said in a Tuesday interview.
Last week, 12,000 Stater Bros. workers across Southern California voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike, accusing the company of illegally surveilling, interrogating, and targeting union members, according to a news release on July 25.
“They have been doing whatever they think is necessary to force employees (our members) to back down from the kind of demands they deserve,” Zinder said.
The former president of Stater Bros., Jack Brown, was replaced by Peter Helden in 2016, and in 2024, Greg McNiff, who was previously president of Albertson’s Portland division, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO).
“They now have hired executives to come from Albertson’s, and they’ve really brought a different attitude to the company,” she said. “Whereas the old Jack Brown Stater Brothers was really concerned about their employees, they were really family.
Union workers have never before voted to authorize a strike against Stater Bros.
“They are committing unfair labor practices all over the place to try and bully people,” she said. “To try and silence our workers.”
Stater Bros. didn’t respond to a request for comment and company officials haven’t issued a news release as of Wednesday.
Victor Romero, who has been an employee of Stater Bros. for 27 years at store 40 in Santa Ana, said the company is trying to stifle the voices of union members and he is prepared to go on strike.
He said Helden has never been to the negotiation table and has been spreading misinformation.
“Them putting up company updates and intimidating members is something that we want to make sure doesn’t happen anymore,” Romero said in a Tuesday interview at the union hall in Buena Park.
“We can’t lose our voice, because if we lose our voice, then we lose the power to negotiate.”
Remero said when the union provided the bargaining committee with a proposal on immigration, aimed at requiring stores to demand warrants before allowing immigration or law enforcement officers to enter, Helden released a video claiming this was the only issue union workers were willing to discuss.
ICE officials have carried out raids across Orange County as part of a broader immigration crackdown, but many agents have made arrests without warrants and have been accused of racially profiling individuals. A temporary injunction has put a hold on roving immigration enforcement throughout most of Southern California.
“It would be enlightening for him (Helden) to see how his negotiating team is actually negotiating,” Remero said. “Because if he wasn’t at the negotiating table, then, why is he saying stuff that isn’t necessarily true?
The workers’ contract with Stater Bros. expired on March 2, and they have since been negotiating for higher wages, affordable healthcare benefits, a secure pension and increased staffing, according to the press release.
“That’s something they don’t want to negotiate at the table,” Romero said.
Zinder said they will be back at the bargaining table today and tomorrow, emphasizing that larger companies like Albertons and Vons have already completed negotiations.
Grocery workers at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions voted to ratify new contracts on July 11, according to the press release.
“There is no good excuse for Stater Bros. to stall,” she Zinder. “We already know what they got, and we just want them to do the right thing and match that.”