The contract for about 65,000 Southern California grocery workers will expire Monday without a new agreement but also no immediate threat of a work stoppage, representatives of the three major chains and the United Food and Commercial Workers union said Friday, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Sources familiar with the talks said Kroger Co.’s Ralphs and the union were close to agreeing to extend the existing contract for a minimum of two weeks.

Continuation of negotiations will for now forestall fears of the type of strike and lockout that created chaos out of grocery shopping when the previous pact expired in late 2003.

An agreement with Ralphs to extend the contract is expected to be a pattern for similar deals involving all seven union locals in the region and Supervalu Inc.’s Albertsons chain and Safeway Inc.’s Vons and Pavilions , the two other major employers.

But any extension could be scuttled by a last-minute dispute over whether any wage increases in a new contract would be retroactive to Monday, said the sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

Both sides report that there have been few substantive negotiating sessions in advance of the contract expiration, as the employers and the unions remain locked a wary dance over the structure of the talks.

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