The union asked to rescind the extension of the previous contract that expired Saturday, and a walkout could occur as soon as Friday evening.

"We did not want it to end this way," Kroger spokesman Gary Rhodes said. No talks were scheduled for today or Wednesday.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1099 plans meetings all day Wednesday for its members to share Kroger's latest proposal. Members will vote to accept Kroger's proposal or reject it and authorize their leadership to call a strike. Strike authorization requires a vote of two-thirds of members voting.

"Kroger's proposal tonight is nowhere near acceptable to the officers and the rank-and-file membership," said John Marrone, spokesman for Local 1099. "We are not going to recommend anything that doesn't meet the members needs to them for ratification."

Kroger's proposal of a three-year contract "addressed areas of the contract where Kroger is not competitive with other retailers in the market," Rhodes said. The proposal included "modest cost sharing" of health-care premiums. Workers would pay would pay $5 a week, or $10 a week to cover a spouse or child, or $15 a week to cover a family.

Rhodes also said the contract would pay a lump-sum "signing bonus" to workers when the contract took effect, a raise of up to 25 cents an hour in 2005 and another lump sum in 2006. Department heads, for instance, would get a $500 signing bonus, 25 cents more an hour in 2005 and a $400 lump sum in 2006.

"What we proposed and still offer are the best wages and benefits of any retailer in Cincinnati," Rhodes said.

Marrone said the union "offered the company significant cost savings in health care and pension, and as far as they're concerned it's not enough." He said the union would detail its offer at a news conference this afternoon.

E-mail johnb@enquirer.com.