Stop & Shop workers end 11-day strike

The Stop & Shop supermarket chain reached a tentative agreement last night with members of five regional chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union that went on a 11-day strike that impacted 240 stores across New England.

“We are very pleased to announce Stop & Shop has reached fair new tentative agreements with UFCW Locals 328, 371, 919, 1445 and 1459, which represent our 31,000 associates in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island,” the company said in a statement. The tentative three-year agreement includes “increased pay for all associates, continued excellent health coverage for eligible associates and ongoing defined benefit pension benefits for all eligible associates.”

While Stop and Shop added that the company was “glad to have our associates return to work,” Mark Espinosa, president of UFCW Local 919, one of the Connecticut chapters  involved in the strike, was far less conciliatory, condemning the supermarket chain as a “monster employer” and insisting the job walkout was “an epic battle that the nation watched.” In a YouTube video message, Espinosa said the tentative agreement, which will require ratification by the union membership, was a game-changer.

“This contract is going to give you, for the future, the financial security, the dignity, the respect that you all have deserved and earned,” he said to the union members.