Supermarket

Workers OK Stop & Shop Pact

HARTFORD (AP) — Supermarket workers at Stop & Shop in southern New England ratified a contract March 7, ending weeks of difficult negotiations over wages and benefits.

Members of five locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island approved the three-year contract by overwhelming margins in voice votes, union officials said.

“We’ve got peace in the valley for the next three years,” said Mark Espinosa, president of Local 919 in Connecticut.

Union officials said the contract was a solid win for workers in the worst economy in decades.

“Our members were very, very happy with the agreement,” said Jim Riley, secretary-treasurer of Local 328 in Providence, R.I. “These were the most difficult negotiations in my life. The company held the line. It’s very profitable, but they had concerns about costs, they felt labor costs are too high.”

The Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop said in a statement that its goal was to reach fair agreements that will allow it to continue to provide good jobs and serve its customers.

“We are pleased to have met this goal with these ratified agreements,” the company said.

Stop & Shop operates more than 350 supermarkets in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.

During negotiations, Stop & Shop said compensation that includes wages, health and pension benefits by nonunion competitors is substantially less than what it pays. The company said it operates in an “increasingly competitive and changing industry,” with groceries sold at Walmart, Target, and other retailers in addition to supermarkets.

Of the top ten New England food retailers, only Stop & Shop is entirely unionized, the company said.

Brian Petronella, president of Local 371 in Connecticut, said the contract takes effect retroactively to February 21.