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Negotiations to resolve the supermarket strike and lockout in California are continuing. According to Los Angeles Times, negotiators spent eight hours at the collective bargaining table yesterday, and will continue today. Altogether 70,000 supermarket workers are on strike, or locked out, since more than four months. Newspaper reports in California say that has already been the longest period of bargaining since early December.

All through the conflict, the UFCW Locals have been prepared to make compromises with the three supermarket giants Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons. The employers who are lead by Safeway CEO Steve Burd have, however, taken a hard line and also recently refused a binding arbitration. Pressure is now building up, to force them to take a more reasonable stance. Voices are also being raised more and more frequently, demanding the resignation of Burd.

In New England, Stop & Shop has signed a collective agreement with UFCW. According to UFCW Local 371 president Brian Petronella in the Boston Globe, all Stop & Shop workers in New England received the same basic pay package. Full-time workers will get 75 dollars more per week, that is  25 dollars each year during a three-year contract. Stop & Shop is a subsidiary of Netherlands-based commerce multinational Ahold.

In Massachusetts, full-time workers earn from 525 to 1,000 dollars per week. Part-time workers, who earn between minimum wage and 9.50 dollars an hour in Massachusetts, will receive a total of 80 cents more per hour, 30 cents, 25 cents, and 25 cents a year over the three years, Petronella said to the newspaper.

These modest wage increases were compensated by the workers retaining their company-financed health insurance, while accepting some savings in health care costs. According to the Boston Globe, the agreement was concluded after the 42,000 workers in 220 stores had made clear that they were prepared to strike for their health insurance.