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A tentative agreement was reached between grocery workers and major supermarket chains Thursday that could put an end to the nearly 20-week-long supermarket strike.

Details about the agreement were not disclosed by representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. These last rounds of negotiations between the grocery workers union and Albertsons Inc., Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc. have lasted more than two weeks, said John Arnold, a spokesman for federal mediator Peter Hurtgen.

Current talks have lasted longer than any other negotiations attempted since the strikes began on Oct. 11, 2003, which started speculation that an agreement may soon be reached.

“I hope the end is near. I think it is great that the strikers will be able to go back and work and care for their families,” said Abel Valenzuela, a professor of urban planning and Chicana/o studies and an expert in day labor studies.

The strike began about five months ago when negotiations between UFCW and store officials ended because of disagreements over health benefits and wages for new hires.

Employees are striking largely because of a plan proposed by corporate management that would require workers to pay a portion of their wages toward their existing health care benefits, which they were previously not required to do.

The supermarket chains have argued that the proposal is fair since most other employers in the country follow a similar practice. They have also argued that they have to pass on health care costs to workers to compete with Wal-Mart, which plans to build several superstores – with groceries – in California.

The strikes, which involve 70,000 employees and 859 stores from San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield to San Diego, is the longest running strike in the history of U.S. supermarket labor.

“I hope it’ll end quickly and in a good way, but I have this sinking feeling it won’t end well. There’ll be compromises that will hurt the union’s power,” said Mike Laurin, a meat department manager at Ralphs in Koreatown.

The strikes have cost the companies involved a combined $1.5 billion in lost sales, according to analyst estimates.

If the strike comes to an end, some say there will be tension between striking employees returning to work and temporary workers.

Professors studying the strikes believe that if the strikes were to end, a two-tiered wage system would be implemented. In this system, the striking workers would be reinstated as employees under a new wage, and the temporary employees hired during the strike would be paid less.

“There was talk that some form of a two-tiered structure would take place, but this is still not clear,” said Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education.

If the two-tiered wage system is implemented in supermarkets, both Wong and Valenzuela believe a negative dichotomy between workers will develop.

“The two-tiered wage system will produce some tension and conflict between the new and older workers. I think they should all be paid the same wages,” Valenzuela said.

Earlier in the day, Westwood Ralphs store director Mike Quiñones said employees have heard speculation about the strike coming to an end, but they will not get their hopes up until they see something in writing.

“I’d love to report good news, but we’re still waiting,” Quiñones said.

With reports from Bruin wire services.