Stop & Shop workers are entering week six of a contract standoff after union officials on Friday slammed a “final offer” from the Mass.-based grocery retailer.
The five local chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), representing 31,000 Stop & Shop employees in New England, rejected the company’s final labor offer they say calls for “unreasonable wage and benefit cuts” and aims to replace additional cashiers with automated self-checkout stations.
It’s not yet clear where labor negotiations are headed as both UFCW and Stop & Shop have not commented on how they plan to move forward.
Labor negotiations stalled in February before a three-year labor agreement between the supermarket, owned by Netherlands-based Ahold, and UFCW expired on Feb. 23. Workers from each UFCW local chapter — including Local 919 (Farmington), Local 371 (Westport), Local 1459 (Springfield), Local 328 (Providence) and Local 1445 (Dedham) — voted to authorize a strike last month, but have not yet walked off the job.
In a joint statement Friday, union leaders say the company’s latest offer is “unreasonable, unnecessary and immoral.”
“We are determined to make sure that every Stop & Shop customer hears and knows the truth — that Stop & Shop’s proposal will have a terrible effect on 31,000 hard-working employees and impact the service they are able to provide in the stores,” the statement says. “It is wrong and it is time that Stop & Shop do the right thing.”
However, Stop & Shop officials say their proposed contract “substantially enhanced comprehensive offers” including company-wide pay increases, “affordable” healthcare benefits for eligible employees and increased contributions to UFCW’s benefit pension fund for full- and part-time associates.
The grocery retailer also lauded its $2 billion commitment to upgrade stores over the next several years in addition to expanding job opportunities.
“Stop & Shop remains ready and available to meet with the union locals at any time,” the supermarket said in a statement. “We will continue good faith bargaining and hope to reach fair new contracts as quickly as possible that both recognize and reward the great work of our associates and enable Stop & Shop to compete effectively in the rapidly changing, mostly non-union New England grocery market.”