SAN DIEGO -- The union representing striking supermarket clerks pulled its picketers away from Ralphs stores Friday, saying it wants to make life easier for shoppers in light of this week's devastating wildfires.

GROCERY STRIKE LOCK OUT VOTE: Cross Picket Line To Shop? DISCUSS: Share Your Thoughts EMAIL ALERT: Sign Up For Grocery Strike Major Development Emails LINKS: UFCW135.com Albertsons.com Safeway.com Vons.com

The United Food and Commercial Works union also said it was making the move to reward consumers who have been honoring picket lines and that, in any event, Ralphs -- unlike Vons and Albertsons -- is not its real adversary.

At noon Friday, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said it is all right for shoppers to return to Ralphs.

Mickey Kasparian, the president of the local chapter, said the union is grateful to San Diegans for honoring their picket lines, and they feel it is time to compromise -- especially in the aftermath of the fires.

"Our position is we're trying to soften the blow on the community," Kasparian said. "The community has been very supportive."

He said picketers were being pulled from Ralphs stores -- and not Albertsons and Vons -- in part because Ralphs was the only company that seemed reasonable during the now-stalled contract talks.

"We just felt that during negotiations, Ralphs was the most reasonable one," he said. "Albertsons is joined at the hip with Vons."

Striking Ralphs workers will be moved to picket lines at other stores, Kasparian said.

A similar announcement was made in Los Angeles, where Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770, said the union wants to "reward" consumers for not crossing picket lines. He also said the union's main opponent is Vons and its parent company, Safeway.

"We're doing this to give the consumer a place to shop and to return the favor," Icaza said.

Icaza said the strike will continue at both Vons and Albertsons, and asked that San Diegans please continue to honor the picket lines at those stores.

"They're the ones that orchestrated the strike and they're the ones that we are literally targeting and Ralphs is only incidental to this," Icaza said.

The UFCW struck Vons stores on Oct. 11. Albertsons and Ralphs responded by locking out their union employees and hiring replacement workers.