California Grocery Strike Averted After Labor Deal Reached

Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies, Inc. may have avoided a potentially crippling 47,000-worker strike in California after unions representing the employees announced a tentative agreement had been reached on the eve of scheduled contract votes.

The workers previously authorized their local United Food and Commercial Workers unions to call a strike if negotiations stalled. A strike seemed likely after the unions scheduled a vote on a management contract proposal that they criticized as “insulting.”

The details of the deal reached Sept. 8 weren’t disclosed. The UFCW previously had called out the two companies for offering low wage increases and refusing ...