Local union workers at the big-four grocery chains (Albertsons, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Safeway) rejected the latest contract proposal from their employers. Both sides have since agreed to additional negotiations—but a possible strike looms as the biggest grocery-shopping holiday of the year approaches.

Tom Geiger, spokesman for UFCW 21, the local grocery union, says workers are concerned about the employers' proposals to cut pay, pensions, and health benefits. "People thought this was unacceptable," says Geiger.

But the contract that UFCW 21 rejected doesn't necessarily support these claims. While some pay bonuses would be reduced (like extra money for working on holidays, for instance), certain wages would increase, says Scott Klitzke Powers, vice president of Allied Employers, the firm negotiating for the employers. Powers says that the employers' proposal also includes $48.9 million in new contributions to medical and pension funds and preserves step increases in wages.

Even if union workers do accept the deal from the big grocers, workers may come out okay. But that doesn't mean their union bosses can't encourage them to hold out for more. Line items like the $591,000 UFCW 21 just spent to keep liquor stores state-run—an effort to maintain state jobs running an inefficient liquor monopoly—don't fund themselves.