Posted on 04/11/2019 12:18:25 PM PDT by matt04
Stop & Shop workers went out on strike Thursday afternoon, frustrated by contract negotiations they say have stalled.
Five New England United Food & Commercial Workers locals representing over 30,000 Stop & Shop workers have been without a contract since late February.
The doors to the Stop & Shop in Chicopee were closed early Thursday afternoon as workers picketed outside. There were reports on social media of closed Stop & Shops from Westfield to Boston, though others remained open.
“Given that negotiations with assistance of the federal mediators are continuing, we are disappointed that the UFCW chose to order a work stoppage in an attempt to disrupt service at our stores. Stop & Shop has contingency plans in place to minimize disruption,” the supermarket chain said in a statement on its website.
At the Stop & Shop in West Springfield, the supermarket reopened two hours after the strike was called with management as the only staff. Some customers left in frustration when they found they could get utilize all services, such as freshly sliced deli meat.
Springfield-headquartered United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1459 represents about 1,300 workers, including those in Chicopee. A recorded message on its the phone told workers to report to picket lines. Those at work were told to leave their posts and go to picket lines.
UFCW claims Stop & Shop is proposing a bad deal for workers that would cut current benefits, including health and welfare and pension plans, replace Sunday time-and-a-half pay with a smaller wage premium and cut paid holidays, vacations and sick days for new hires.
The union says the company has proposed bonuses in lieu of cost-of-living wage increases, according to a union news release.
Stop & Shop has maintained that being the only New England supermarket chain with a unionized work force has put it at a competitive disadvantage.
There are people out there looking for work.
This might be a great place to hand a resume out to.
Unions suck.
Just read that sorry excuse some union employee wrote. Did you see the video in the article to what appeared to be a customer trying to enter only to have a mob surround him and scream “UNION STRONG” in his face until he left? Way to piss off your soon to be ex-customers.
S&S has actually posted their full proposals online(they are all the same for each local) https://stopandshop.com/labor/2019/#/labor/news
One of the issues that caught my eye is pensions. They cite poor asset performance and bankruptcies of former union employers who are no longer paying into said pension and the Union demand that they prop it up. That SHOULD scare any S&S employee who thinks they will have pension when they retire, along with the fact the the UFCW has been loosing members whit one of the CT locals going from 11k to 7k members in a few years.
Yeah.
It’s from an old song called Roadrunner.
I walked by the Stop and Shop
Then I drove by the Stop and Shop
I like that much better than walking by the Stop and Shop
(at 0:40)
S&S is on strike, that’s fine. I’ll shop at union proud A&P. /s
Oh no what will we do without lottery tickets and cheap cigars and bags of chips? The world will surely end!
Spent 15 years in the UAW - miserable bunch of slackers and under-achievers.
I want to work hard and do a good job - leave me the hell alone.
This isn't exactly child labor sweat shops and the coal mines of the 1920's....
I’m old fashioned. I think most of those jobs should be for teenagers, not something you’d support a family on.
I was with the Teamsters for 2 years. Whenever I asked a question, they rarely got back to me. All these pukes ever cared was taking money from my salary. Even when I left the job, these assholes still contacted me and I had to change banks just to remove their connection to my previous bank..
What if you don’t support the strike?
I’ve worked under a UFCW union. Once they refused to help because the issue was with a union supervisor who kept changing posted schedules against union contracts. They though it was a exempt manager who was doing that. Once they realized they would have to get a fellow “Brother or sister” in trouble they no showed to a meeting they were supposed to have with me and refused to return any calls. The exempt manager ended up having to suspend the union supervisor for a week for doing it. In the end the Union got the suspended supervisor all their back pay. Jerks.
I live in Connecticut: No Hannaford, Market Basket nor Shaw's here. We do also have Stew Leonard's though. ;-)
LOL! We have PLENTY of other grocery store choices here in New England. One of the things I admit I will sorely miss when hubby and I eventually move South...
I’m glad I got my low fat chocolate frozen yogurt last night.
Do they not have mirrors?
Flame away...I don't care.
I'm not trying to shame anyone, but that is not a flattering appearance for anyone, man or woman.
And yes, I've seen men that looked just as damned bad.
I worked in a UFCW shop grocery store very briefly when I was a kid. Was packing bags next to a cashier. The customer was an old lady who did something to set her off, and the cashier began screaming at this woman “You @$#!% &$%#$ing @%$%$^ &#%$^& b**ch!”
The manager immediately took her drawer and marched her to the office. She was rightly terminated.
For a few weeks. She filed a grievance and the a-holes at the union got her job back for her.
They always go to bat for the employees who damned well deserve to be fired.
Aldis & Market Basket for me here in the northeast with a stop here & there at Trader Joe’s.
We also have Big Y, Price Chopper, and other small local chains in addition to places like Target and Wal-Mart. IMHO, all of these places offer either similar prices to S&S with better service or lower prices. These union idiots have no idea.
My understanding is if a Union member works during a strike, the Union can fine them for basically any money they earned during the strike and possibly kick them out of the Union, because that what happens when you disagree with your “brother and sisters.”
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