Around 48,000 grocery workers voted to strike if needed when seeking higher wages from stores owned by Kroger Co and Albertsons Companies Inc. in Southern California, the UFCW 770 union said on Saturday. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) has been seeking significantly higher and equal pay, sufficient staffing, and enough working hours in their negotiations with the grocers, which began on Jan. 28. As U.S. food prices rise, workers are pushing big corporations that have been posting record profits to offer more. Politicians including President Joe Biden and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have voiced support for such demands. The union said in a statement it would notify workers if a decision were made to strike. It said there was a big disconnect between its proposal and the offer of an hourly raise of 60 cents, or less than a 1 percent increase, made by …