Grocery workers say walkout is near

The major sticking point is health care, and union officials say they're nowhere close to an agreement. Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers authorized a strike several weeks ago, and the L.A. County Federation of Labor is setting aside $100,000 to help strikers pay for food during a work stoppage. Some of this could be bluster, but a strike fund usually means that a union is getting ready to walk. The four chains at the center of the talks are Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions, and Albertsons. They issued a joint statement saying that "We are still actively negotiating, and any talk of a strike is unnecessary" - pretty much what they're been saying since the contract expired in March. Here's the LAT story.