Negotiators for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1099 left talks late Monday, setting the wheels in motion for a strike as soon as Friday evening. A federal mediator intervened, and got the two sides back to the table Tuesday afternoon.

"We met to hear their concerns and try to find a solution," Kroger spokesman Gary Rhodes said. He said company provided clarification on a number of issues, including health benefits and pensions, but "unfortunately, they rejected all of it and walked away."

No additional talks are scheduled. Union officials were unavailable for comment.

Local 1099 will take Kroger's latest offer to members today. The union will meet with the rank and file throughout the day at five locations in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky, where it will urge them to vote to reject Kroger's proposal and authorize a strike.

Kroger is preparing for the worst. It began hiring temporary workers Tuesday. The company posted recruiting signs in stores throughout the region and is offering up to $10 an hour for workers willing to staff stores in case of a strike.

"We've got to prepare to protect our business and serve our customers in the event the union decides to walk out," Rhodes said.

Both sides agreed Friday to extend their five-year labor contract through its expiration this past Saturday. Each could revoke the extension with 96 hours' notice. Late Monday, Local 1099 asked to revoke the extension after Kroger presented its latest proposal, setting a possible strike deadline of 10 p.m. this coming Friday.

Local 1099's members must approve a strike authorization by a two-thirds majority of those voting. A vote set for today could be a close call: The union's survey of members last summer showed less than two-thirds said they were willing to strike over wages, and barely two-thirds were willing to strike to maintain benefits.

Union officials said last week that a strike authorization doesn't mean that members will strike immediately but that it gives the union leverage to negotiate a settlement.

About noon Tuesday, Kroger - which has 70 stores locally - and the union agreed to head back to negotiations at an undisclosed location, with the mediator helping to sift through issues including health benefits, wages, pension, overtime and work rules.

"The parties are wrestling with some very complex issues," said mediator Earl Leonhardt, a commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

The session ended about 7 p.m., after about five hours of talks.

"We've responded to every request made by the union, and we're prepared to continue negotiations," Rhodes said. "We feel that's the best place to reach agreement - to stay at the table and keep talking."

Kroger's last proposal Monday offered modest raises along with higher health-care costs for workers. Raises would come in a bonus when the contract is signed, a raise next year and a lump-sum payment in 2006. For top-rated, full-time workers, that would mean a $300 bonus this year, an additional 15 cents an hour next fall and a $250 lump sum in 2006. Department heads and assistant managers would get more.

Union members pay no premiums for health insurance, but that would end under the proposal. Single workers would pay $5 a week for health care, workers with children would pay $10, and workers with a spouse or family would pay $15. Deductibles and prescription-drug costs would also rise.

Kroger said its health-care proposal asks less from its workers than what competitors Meijer and Wal-Mart require from their work forces for the same or less coverage.

Local 1099 thinks that Kroger is trying to devalue full-time work, by raising health-care costs and changing work rules. The union's survey showed that most of its members are full-time workers, with full-time health care and benefits. Most have a high school education or less, and three-quarters regard their Kroger jobs as "long term." Most also do not otherwise have access to health-care coverage.

"Both sides understand what's at stake,'' said Dan Radford, executive secretary-treasurer of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, of which Local 1099 is a member. "Everyone loses in a work stoppage.''

Enquirer reporter Randy Tucker contributed. E-mail johnb@enquirer.com