Ralphs indicted

Remember the grocery store strike-lockout that seemed to last far longer than it should have in 2003? Ralphs was indicted today on federal charges of hiring workers under false names and violating numerous other labor laws during the stoppage. AP says the 106-page indictment, returned by a federal grand jury, accuses Ralphs of engaging in a "company-wide course of criminal conduct involving the hiring of locked-out employees under false names, Social Security numbers and documentation."

The grocery chain issued thousands of paychecks to falsely identified employees and allowed the workers to cash the checks at its stores, the indictment alleged. The chain tried to conceal the practice from the workers' union by sending locked-out employees to work at stores far from the stores at which they regularly worked, the indictment charged.

Ralphs locked out its employees on Oct. 11, 2003, after Southern California grocery workers voted to strike against Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Pavilions chains.

About 59,000 workers at 859 stores in Southern California were affected either by the strike or Ralphs' lockout.