TOTOWA, N.J. -- Talks on a new contract for 26,000 supermarket workers at 312 supermarkets in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania collapsed early Friday.
Within an hour, picket lines sprang up at six ShopRite stores in North Jersey and union officials said they were giving managers a taste of what a full-blown strike would do.
No New York or Pennsylvania stores were affected.
Representatives of the ShopRite, Pathmark, Foodtown and Grand Union stores and the United Food and Commerical Workers Union Local 1262 bargained for 18 hours Thursday and Friday.
The two sides continued to haggle over health care issues under the eye of a federal mediator and New Jersey Labor Commissioner Ray Bramucci.
Talks collapsed at 5:30 a.m. after the union rejected three separate proposals and union spokesman Frank Margiotta said picketing began at two ShopRite stores in North Bergen, and at stores in Ridgefield, Little Ferry, Jersey City and Hillside. The stores employ an estimated 1,000 workers.
Margiotta said the proposals offered by managers stripped workers of some benefits while forcing workers to pay five times more for remaining coverage.
The two sides have been arguing over health benefits since they were called back to the bargaining table April 30 by Bramucci. At that time, the two sides agreed to an uneasy truce in which the union agreed not to act on a strike authorization vote from members and managers promised not to stage a lockout.
