‘People have been so supportive’
Shoppers, officials back striking Stop & Shop workers, vow to buy their groceries elsewhere
As Stop & Shop workers continued to picket Friday, support for their demands grew as many would-be shoppers turned away at the doors to buy groceries elsewhere when they came upon striking union members.
The parking lot outside the Danbury Stop & Shop on Newtown Road was practically empty in the afternoon.
Linda Riccio, self-checkout manager at the store and a 10-year Stop & Shop employee, said she saw about 15 shoppers turn around after seeing the workers striking outside the store.
“A regular of mine pulled up and didn’t know what was going on. When I told him, he said he supports us and was going to go to Big Y instead today,” said Riccio. “Our customers have been tremendously supportive.”
United Food and Commercial Workers from Local 371, which is headquartered
in Westport, and Local 919 walked out of stores Thursday afternoon to strike as contract negotiations with the grocery store giant have reached an impasse. Union members throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are participating in the strike.
In a statement, the company said the union demands would increase the company’s costs and make them less competitive in the mostly non-union New England food retail marketplace.
But many people who came upon the picket lines said they wouldn’t buy groceries from any Stop & Shop until a fair contract was settled for the employees who give such great customer service.
The union spirit resonated with several people, who were either in unions or had spouses who were members of other unions. A UPS driver came by the North Haven location declaring he wouldn’t deliver to the store in support of the strikers.
People have shown their support by doing more than just not shopping in stores, but in Litchfield, Hamden, Westport and North Haven people brought coffee, doughnuts and bagels in the morning for the workers standing outside in the bleak weather.
Workers in Danbury said nearby businesses donated food and beverages. Planet Pizza and Little Caesars donated pizzas, Dunkin’ Donuts donated coffee and McDonald’s gave them gift cards, said Joe Heller, who has worked at Stop & Shop for 35 years.
Riccio said some people dropped off hand warmers and bottles of water. “People have been so supportive,” she said.
Michael Dutton, a Stop & Shop employee at the Danbury store on Lake Avenue Extension, said people had been walking out with fewer items in their shopping carts than usual. One reason for this, he speculated, was because they have to use self-checkout since no cashiers are there to ring them up.
“People are coming out with one or two bags instead of a cartfull,” he said.
One Hamden resident said she wouldn’t shop until the strike ended because the employees deserve better.
“We don’t have small general stores anymore, but the workers here know you,” she said, adding she thinks robots in the stores are an insult.
Those backing the workers included Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DConn., who visited the Hamden store on Dixwell Avenue declaring their support for the unions. Mayors in cities like Bridgeport and New Haven also stood with the strikers.
“As long as you are striking, we’re going to find somewhere else to go,” Bysiewicz said to employees.
She said she spoke Friday with Mark McGowan, president of New England Division and executive vice president of operations for Stop & Shop, asking him to get involved with negotiations and said Gov. Ned Lamont has reached out to the company’s leaders on the issue.
“If they know what’s good for them, they’ll do right by you,” Blumenthal said to workers. “Our entire delegation stands with you.”
Unions are fighting elimination of Sunday premium pay for new hires, automation, increases to workers’ health care and pension contributions and excluding spouses from insurance policies.
Many stores were closed except for the pharmacy and People’s United Bank
branch.
Chris Mauro, a single dad who is produce manager at the Bridgeport Stop & Shop on Fairfield Avenue and shop steward for UFCW Local 919, said he has worked for the company for 32 years and always been faithful, “but I can’t afford all the givebacks.”
The company said the proposed increases in health care premiums are $2 to $4 a week each year, which it said is nowhere close to doubling premiums.
“It’s hard to be out here — we’d rather be working, believe me,” said Union 371 Litchfield shop steward Mike Main, who stood with a group of workers at the store’s driveway on Route 202. Main has worked for Stop & Shop for 39 years, starting as a student at Litchfield High School.
“We’re looking for wage increases, health care and our pensions,” Main said. “They’re taking away things we’ve earned over the years. We only want what’s fair.”
The unions said the company had more than $2 billion in profits last year and received a U.S. tax cut of $225 million in 2017.
Picketing workers in Hamden pleaded with approaching shoppers to go elsewhere since ShopRite, Aldi and Walmart are in adjacent plazas across the street and many people did because they thought the workers on strike deserve better treatment from the grocery giant.
At the Westport Stop and Shop on the Post Road, Jason Ference, the 43-year old dairy manager from Bridgeport, was doing his best to talk prospective shoppers out of crossing the picket line.
His words convinced Flip Andrade and Amy Stabinsky, of Shelton, not to go inside. He told them about the health care changes, about the pension change and the $2 billion in profits Stop & Shop is pocketing. Although the couple grabbed a carriage and prepared to go in, they turned around and left.
“We’ll stay away until the strike is over,” Stabinsky said.
In its statement, Stop & Shop said it “has contingency plans in place to minimize disruption.”
But across Connecticut, with no employees in stores to stock groceries, cut meats or manage produce, concerns were raised about fresh food going bad and the shelves with nonperishables not being refilled.
At the Westport store, Joe Marotto, the assistant deli manager who lives in Stratford, said the deli and cheese he and his workers sliced yesterday will have to be thrown out in two days and produce and milk products will be going bad in a week or so.
“Pretty soon they are going to have to start throwing things out and I don’t know who’s going to do it,” Marotto said.