LOS ANGELES (AP) – Grocery workers spent a second day Sunday voting on a tentative contract that would end a strike and lockout that has crippled Southern California’s grocery industry for nearly five months.

Thousands of members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union stood in lines to vote, said Barbara Maynard, a UFCW spokeswoman. They had until midnight to vote on the offer, which requires them to pay for health benefits for the first time and includes a one-time bonus but no raise.

The tentative agreement between the union and grocery stores covers 70,000 employees of Albertsons Inc., Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc.

Since Oct. 11, about 59,000 workers have been on strike or locked out. Others continued working at markets by special agreement while the contract was negotiated.

The 41/2-month dispute gained national attention because it was seen as a referendum on affordable employee health care. Presidential candidates John Kerry and John Edwards were among those who rallied behind the grocery workers.

Many employees said Sunday they were eager to return to their jobs and voted to ratify the deal, although some observed that the offer was not much different from one the union rejected in October.

It was unknown whether replacement workers would be immediately released if the contract was approved by union members.

An agreement was reached Friday. Workers said the contract offer included a ratification bonus of 30 cents for every hour worked in the year before the strike-lockout began.

Under the expired contract, workers paid no monthly premiums for health benefits and a $10 copay for doctor’s visits and prescriptions.

The new offer includes no premiums for the first two years of the contract. Beginning in the third year, however, workers would pay $5 a week for individual coverage and $15 a week for family coverage, according to a union fact sheet given to workers.

Employees said their co-payments would increase to $25 for a doctor’s visit and $100 for treatment at a hospital emergency room.

The proposed agreement differentiates between current workers and those hired after Oct. 5, when the old contract expired. New employees would receive a lower wage rate, and it would take them longer to get raises.

Maynard said if union members approve the deal, it could take several days to get people back to work.

because of the time it takes to work up schedules.

AP-ES-02-29-04 1819EST