SAN DIEGO -- It has been nine weeks since members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union walked out, or were locked out, of Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons. While unions and employers in other states have come to agreements, local grocery union leaders said a resolution is not expected anytime soon.

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More than 70,000 grocery workers across California are still on the picket lines. Yet, a similar strike, involving the very same issues of wage and benefits, ended Thursday on the East Coast, 10News reported.

Local leaders said there is one thing that makes this strike very different -- California will set a precedent for future contract negotiations.

Since the grocery strike started, Lou Messina and his fellow retirees have assembled nearly 10,000 signs for the picket lines.

"The companies are looking to see what California's going to do," said Messina, a retired grocery worker.

So far, as similar strikes in other states settle, California's is still not resolved. Just Thursday morning, striking Kroger workers in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio ratified a new contract ending a two-month standoff.

Union leader Mickey Kasparian said California is a different beast. He believes that if the California workers go down, the entire nation is likely to follow.

"We're the biggest local union in the entire United States. They know if they can keep us out for a long period of time and win the strike here, it'll just filter down to every UFCW Union and, for that matter, every local union in the U.S.," Kasparian said.

Avoiding picket lines and yearning for convenience, most customers remain patient but increasingly bothered.

"I live in La Mesa and I have to come all the way over here because I refuse to cross," said one shopper.

"I'd rather go to a place that's more convenient to me personally," said another shopper.

Eleanor Patella, a retired grocery union worker, said, "If it takes carrying sticks -- which I do -- or taping signs or doing whatever, I'm going to do it."

Local grocery workers have been striking since Oct. 11.

The sides started talking again with the help of a mediator, but those talks broke off Dec. 7 and no other talks have been scheduled.