Store strike averted

WINSTED — Stop & Shop employees ratified a new three-year agreement with the supermarket chain on Sunday, March 7, averting the possibility of a labor strike by thousands of union members.

Local 371, the local chapter of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, unanimously approved the new contract during a meeting at the Omni Hotel in New Haven March 7.

The Winsted store employs about 100 members of Local 371.

The contract includes enhancements to the workers’ health insurance benefits and pension plans, as well as wage increases.

All five of the local union chapters in New England that include Stop & Shop employees approved the new agreement.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union’s previous contract with the Massachusetts-based supermarket chain expired on Feb. 20 after the two sides were unable to reach a labor agreement.

The next day, hundreds of members of Local 371 held a contract ratification meeting at the Marriott Hotel in Rocky Hill.

At that meeting, those in attendance unanimously rejected the company’s proposal and then unanimously voted to authorize a strike.

Both sides continued to negotiate on a day-to-day basis. Last week, the union and the company’s management team took turns exchanging contract proposals.

Unhappy with the offers, Local 371 gave 24 hours notice on March 3 that it was terminating its contract with Shop & Shop and that its members could possibly walk off the job. The other four local union chapters followed suit the next day.

But federal negotiators, who took part in the discussions, told the union that “if the company puts forth a proposal that has been improved from what was available on Feb. 21, then we must bring it back to the membership for a vote,†according to a union leadership memo to members posted on Local 371’s Web site (ufcw371.org) March 4.

The union, however, announced it had reached a tentative agreement with the company Saturday evening. That proposal was presented to members at Sunday’s meeting before the ratification vote.

In anticipation of a potential strike or lockout, Stop & Shop had advertised help wanted notices in local newspapers, looking for temporary replacement workers.

Union members authorized a strike three years ago during their negotiations with the company for their previous contract agreement.

The last time Stop & Shop stores were closed in the region due to a labor dispute was in 1997, with stores closing for about a day.

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