Grocery store chain Stater Bros. and the union representing 12,000 workers across Southern California reached an agreement on a new contract, averting a possible strike.

No specifics of the proposed three-year agreement were released, but union officials said it includes higher wages, increased pension contributions, healthcare improvements and enhanced staffing and safety protections.

Labor tensions had escalated significantly in recent weeks. Workers had been operating under an expired contract since March and voted overwhelmingly on July 25 to authorize a strike.

United Food and Commercial Workers had filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the San Bernardino-based grocery chain had engaged in surveillance, interrogation and retaliation against workers exe

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