The United Food and Commercial Workers union brusquely spurned Dominick's Inc.'s call for a revote on a contract proposal that UFCW workers rejected by a wide margin on Sunday.þþDominick's and about 9,000 store workers represented by the UFCW have been at loggerheads for weeks over terms of a contract to replace the pact that expired Saturday night. On Sunday, the workers not only voted down what Dominick's has called its ÿfinalÿ offer, but authorized union leaders to call a strike if they feel one is necessary.þþOn Monday, Dominick's announced that it considered the worker vote invalid because the balloting was flawed by procedural irregularities: The Safeway Inc. unit cited what it called improper union efforts to intimidate and mislead workers.þþDominick's wants the union to conduct a second vote, this time using mail-in ballots and outside observers.þþUnion officials weren't reachable following the company's allegations late Monday. On Tuesday, however, UCFW officials made public a blistering letter to Dominick's head of labor relations. ÿWe absolutely won't hold a revote,ÿ said a spokesman.þþThe letter, dated Tuesday, flatly denies any wrongdoing during the voting process.þþÿIn the face of Safeway's bullying tactics, threats of store closings and job loss,ÿ the letter says, the workers on Sunday ÿcourageously stood up and made their voices heard.ÿþþThe letter, signed by the heads of UFCW Local 881 and Local 1546, tells Dominick's that the 113-store chain, a subsidiary of California-based Safeway, ÿshould drop its bullying ... its coercion, ... its threats,ÿ and return to the bargaining table.þþThe union has said it wants to resume negotiations, and Safeway has agreed to meet, but only to clarify terms of its recently rebuffed ÿfinalÿ offer.þþSafeway spokesman Brian Dowling called the union's decision ÿdisappointing.ÿþþ
Source: Chicago Tribune
