Northwest Grocery workers authorize strike if talks don't resolve differences

Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Oregon and Southwest Washington have approved a strike against supermarket chains including Fred Meyer, QFC, Safeway and Albertsons as a contingency if negotiations fail in coming weeks. The union and representatives of the grocery companies have been talking for over a year to resolve differences over the level of pay increases and what the workers contend is gender-based income bias. “As income inequity gets so much worse, we’re having many workers pushed to the brink of homelessness, as wages remain stagnant," said Kelley McAllister, the union’s communications director.