Unionized Stop & Shop workers potentially ended an 11-day strike late Sunday after agreeing to a tentative labor pact with the Mass.-based grocer, according to union officials.
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents about 31,000 Stop & Shop workers in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, called the proposed deal a “powerful victory” because it preserves healthcare and retirement benefits, time-and-a-half pay on Sunday and provides wage increases for current employees.
UFCW did not specify its new labor terms. For now, all five local chapters of UFCW are required to ratify the agreement.
“We are incredibly grateful to our customers and everyone who proudly stood together with us every day for a contract that invests in the communities we serve, and makes Stop & Shop a better place to work and a better place to shop,” the local chapters of UFCW said in a statement late on Easter Sunday.
In a statement Monday, Stop & Shop called the tentative three-year agreement a “fair” deal for both sides.
“Our associates’ top priority will be restocking our stores so we can return to taking care of our customers and communities and providing them with the service they deserve,” the supermarket said. “We deeply appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers during this time, and we look forward to welcoming them back to Stop & Shop.”
The union had slammed the supermarket in recent weeks for proposing cuts to healthcare and pension benefits while the supermarket argued it was the only unionized large-scale grocer in New England with some of the industry’s highest-paid workers.
UFCW and Stop & Shop, owned by Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, began negotiating new labor terms in January but were unable to reach an agreement before a three-year labor pact expired Feb. 23. Unionized workers at 240 stores in the three states then walked off the job on April 11, launching the first strike against Stop & Shop since 1988.
Most Stop & Shop locations stayed open during the strike, but were nearly empty as workers picketed stores during business hours to shy people away from buying products. Union officials had estimated the strike, ahead of the holiday weekend, caused the company to lose an estimated $20 million a day.
The strike took a dangerous turn Thursday when an unidentified person called into the Wethersfield Stop & Shop at 1380 Berlin Turnpike and threatened to shoot those picketing the site with an AK-47 assault rifle, according to police. The store reopened Friday.
Over the last week, workers scored support from numerous high-ranking Connecticut Democrats including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and former Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and Attorney General William Tong.
The Democrats, in addition to a hand full of Republican lawmakers who stood with picketers, joined the labor fight amid a legislative session that involves several hot-button business proposals calling to raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 and implement a statewide paid and family medical leave program.
This story has been updated to include comment from Stop & Shop
