Union officials said late Saturday they were preparing to submit a revocation of an earlier agreement to extend the grocery workers' current contract indefinitely. John Marrone, spokesman for Local 1099, said that means the contract will expire at midnight Thursday.

Kroger's contract with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1099 had been set to expire at midnight Saturday, but Kroger and the union agreed late Friday to extend the contract indefinitely as they continue their talks.

Although the extension is indefinite, either side can break it off with 96 hours' notice, which is what the union plans to do, Marrone said.

The extension had lessened the chance of a lockout or strike this week at Kroger's 70 Greater Cincinnati supermarkets.

Major sticking points at issue between Kroger and the union include health-care coverage, pensions and work rules.

Both sides are expected to resume negotiations Monday, said Gary Rhodes, a Kroger spokesman.

"Both sides are still talking, and that's always a good sign,'' said Rhodes, who added that no new talks are scheduled on today.

On Wednesday, Local 1099 plans to go ahead with a strike vote among its members.

The union will present the members with Kroger's most recent contract proposal, and they can either accept it, or reject it and authorize a strike.

A two-thirds majority of members voting is needed to authorize a strike.

Kroger proposes that union members begin paying some of their health-insurance premiums. It is also trying to eliminate some situations in which it pays overtime, hold down the number of full-time workers and liberalize work rules.

Local 1099 counters that many of Kroger's proposals lower the value of full-time work.