Stop & Shop and several United Food and Commercial Workers locals have signed off on new four-year contracts, heading off a potential strike as existing agreements neared their end date. The deals cover roughly 28,000 supermarket workers at about 225 stores across Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The current contracts were set to expire on February 28, and the new agreements are slated to kick in on March 1.
What the deals promise
The agreements with UFCW locals 328, 371, 919, 1445 and 1459 lock in annual wage hikes and keep health insurance and pension benefits in place. The full contract language has not been made public by either Stop & Shop or the union, according to The Boston Globe. Union leaders told members they had reached a tentative agreement several days before ratification, easing tensions in a labor showdown that had started to look very real earlier in February.
Company response
In a statement to The Boston Globe, Stop & Shop president Roger Wheeler said, “The new contracts deliver wage increases and maintain important health and pension benefits, while also supporting a continued multi-faceted investment in our business.” The company cast the pacts as a way to reward workers while still keeping money flowing into stores, staffing and overall operations.
Why 2019 still loomed over talks
The 2019 Stop & Shop strike, an 11-day work stoppage that forced roughly 30,000 employees off the job, still hangs over both the company and the union. The Ahold Delhaize 2019 annual report puts the direct financial hit at about $224 million and estimates another $121 million in lost sales during the recovery period, for a total impact that topped $300 million.
What comes next
With members having ratified the new four-year deals, stores are expected to operate under the fresh contracts starting March 1 without any immediate disruption to grocery or pharmacy service. Stop & Shop and the UFCW are both holding back the full text of the agreements, while union officials say they are shifting into the next phase: rolling out and enforcing the new terms at the local level.
