Right now, 35,000 hardworking men and women in New England are bargaining a new contract with Stop & Shop, a subsidiary of Ahold, which also owns Giant Foods. The following update on the bargaining process was shared today by our UFCW brothers and sisters in New England:
Despite the company’s profitability, which was just reported to be in excess of 10 billion dollars, Stop & Shop continues to present us with deep cuts to the hard-earned benefits you and all our current members have earned and deserve.
What the company is proposing is simply unacceptable.
As you know, our members’ work is vital to Stop & Shop’s current and future success. As such, your New England locals, their staff, and Presidents, are determined to continue working together and fighting for a better life for you and your family.
Let us be very clear – we stand united in our goal of securing the better wages and better benefits all our members have earned.
After receiving the latest proposal from the company, the five UFCW local unions are now meeting and diligently preparing the right response. We are determined to make it very clear to the company that we will not go backwards.
As part of these efforts, we are building a broad public coalition of support that includes our members, our customers, our extended union family and various community groups and supporters, who will come together in a public rally in Braintree, MA on March 10 to make our message clear to Stop & Shop that it is time to do the right thing.
In addition, we are also calling on other UFCW locals in D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & New York to engage their Stop & Shop store’s management and send a clear message that time has come to give our New England Stop & Shop workers a fair deal.
As we move forward, it is our commitment to you that we will not only keep you aware of every development, we will negotiate as hard as we can to provide you and your family a better life.