
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 29, 1994                   TAG: 9410310024
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEAMSTERS VOTING ON CONTRACT FOR KROGER CENTERS ACROSS U.S.

Teamsters who work at the Kroger Co.'s distribution warehouse in west Roanoke County began receiving ratification ballots in the mail Friday for a new master contract between the union and the nation's largest supermarket chain.

The Kroger pact would be the Teamsters' first national master contract in the grocery industry. The union has been working since 1963 to negotiate such a contract.

The new contract would cover most major issues except wages and a few issues of local concern. Before the agreement was reached, all of the 15 local Teamster unions at Kroger distribution centers negotiated separately on all but a few issues.

The contract and local supplements would have the same expiration date, similar to the pact the Teamsters have with other major companies, such as United Parcel Service.

Previously, local contracts expired at different times. With all locals being able to strike at the same time, the union would have more clout in its bargaining.

About 300 union members work at Kroger's distribution center south of U.S. 460 just west of Salem. Nationally, the four-year master agreement covers about 3,800 Teamsters at centers from Atlanta and Detroit to Dallas and Roanoke.

Jim Sherwood Jr., secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 171 in Roanoke, said he expects the contract will be approved in the Roanoke Valley. The mail ballots are to be returned by Nov. 17.

The contract would give the Kroger Teamsters the largest pension increase they've had in a long time, Sherwood said. It also would give an improved pension and a tax-free lump-sum payment of $15,000 to any union member retiring between January 1998 and the contract's expiration.

The proposal would set up a master health care plan for all of Kroger's Teamsters. In the past, each local union has negotiated its own health care coverage. The union said the negotiated health plan is the same as the one currently covering Kroger management, with a lower co-payment. The co-payment would not begin until 1996.

Kroger spokesman Paul Bernish said the company will not comment on the contract until the ratification vote has been completed.

by CNB