The tentative contract agreement reached by Save Mart and the grocer's workforce seems to be falling apart.  In an announcement released yesterday by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, it was revealed that even though Central Valley Save Mart employees had ratified the new labor deal, Bay Area workers voted it down. However, the Bay Area union members did not vote for a strike.

Union officials say they are asking for an opportunity to sit down with Save Mart negotiators and talk about where to go from here, but industry analysts say the failed Save Mart agreement could have a ripple effect on negotiations between other unionized grocery chains also experiencing labor unrest in Northern California.  Safeway and Raley's were considering the Save Mart deal as a possible framework for deals of their own.