From the moment workers at Stop and Shop started
walking the picket line at 43 stores on April 11, there was a
spontaneous outpouring of support from other unions, elected
officials, customers and the community. As drivers honked their car
horns in support and many refused to go into the store, the
courageous workers knew they were not alone.
The
31,000 members of United Food and Commercial Workers in Connecticut,
Rhode Island and Massachusetts are striking as a last resort to win
wages, benefits, healthcare and fairness. The multiracial workforce
includes many women and youth. They are courageously fighting for
their livlihoods against a greedy multi-national company with profits
last year of $2 billion.
"We
have been at this for months," said one member of the
negotiating committee who works at the Whalley Avenue store in New
Haven. "We serve the community and we need to be able to
support our families. They just don't care."
The
Stop and Shop workers are part of a national rising tide of working
class militancy and unity.
At
the Dixwell Avenue store in Hamden, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal
stood arm in arm with a striker named "Richie" and pledged
support along side Lt Governor Susan Bysiewicz who was representing
the Governor. Blumenthal told the striking workers, "This is
bigger than you. This is about corporate greed."
Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV, operator of supermarket chains Stop
& Shop and Giant, is merging with its Belgian counterpart
Delhaize Group, creating a company that will serve more than 50
million customers in the United States every week.
Delhaize forced the strike by refusing to back off of the
profitable company's proposal to cut pay and pensions and
substantially increase healthcare coverage premiums for Stop and Shop
workers. The company's final offer at the bargaining table represents
a massive step back that cuts workers earnings.
Scott Barry, produce manager and shop steward at the West Hartford
store told the People's World that for his family "the co-pay on
my weekly check for my family insurance is going to go from $30 to
$140 a week and they want to drop our pension benefit about 30%."
Barry added, "It seems like the company is taking dignity,
decorum, integrity and fairness and dragging it through the mud while
claiming that they are offering a good contract when in truth they
are not."
The response to the Stop&Shop
strike is inspiring.
When they got news that the workers had
walked out, Local 34 UNITE HERE activists recessed their day-long
conference and headed straight to the picket line on Whalley Avenue
in New Haven.
At the same time, Local 34 and 35 retirees were
finishing their monthly executive board meeting. They fanned out to
Stop & Shop stores in New Haven and surrounding towns, bringing
solidarity and the high spirits learned on their own picket lines
over the last 40 years. At least 19 participated, and gleefully
shared photos of the picket lines by text and facebook.
Solidarity
was hardly limited to the large Yale locals. Members of the railroad
unions, CWA, teachers, carpenters and operating engineers were among
the many union members who spontaneously came by to show support.
The evening following the walkout, the New Haven Democratic
Town Committee met. A resolution pledging to honor the picket lines
and support the workers was adopted with enthusiastic support.
The
next day, many State Representatives and Senators, as well as New
Haven Mayor Toni Harp, walked the picket lines.
Unidad Latina
en Accion, an immigrant rights organization in New Haven, is planning
a support rally.
Parking lots at area Stop & Shops are
empty. On Palm Sunday, the Hamden Shop-Rite, a union store which
competes with the Stop & Shop across the street, was jammed,
while the Stop & Shop parking lot was almost empty. Two
customers said they live next to a Stop & Shop five miles away,
but they came to Shop-Rite because "We have to support our
neighbors on strike."
An AFSCME retiree in Waterbury who
lives within walking distance of Stop & Shop drove across town to
a different store. It was so jam packed the supervisor had to call
in more workers. Standing in long lines, customers explained, ' I
usually shop at Stop and Shop but I don't cross picket lines'.
The Connecticut AFL-CIO has called on
all members and families to support the strikers in three ways:
Sign
UFCW's petition to Stop & Shop. Click
here to sign the petition to Stop & Shop management to let
them know you stand with the workers as they fight for a fair
contract.
Join
the workers on a picket line.
The workers need your help and solidarity as they picket at over 90
stores across Connecticut. Join them whenever you have time and
bring them coffee and doughnuts.
- Continue to shop union.
UFCW represents workers at a number of other grocery stores across
the state. Click
here for a list of union grocery stores in Connecticut. If you
can't shop at a union store, please shop elsewhere, but do
not cross the picket line
at Stop & Shop.
