Possible Strike at Stop&Shop

The Register reports that 42,000 Stop & Shop employees (5,000 in CT,) may strike as early as saturday night if contract negotiations fail. As with fellow grocery store workers on the west coast, these UFCW members are fighting for health care.

The main sticking point is the same one that spurred the ongoing strike at several grocery chains in California — Stop & Shop wants employees to start paying far more of the cost of providing medical benefits, Petronella said.

Supermarket chains nationwide have cited competition by non-unionized grocery stores, such as those located in Wal-Mart Supercenters, in seeking such concessions.

Stop & Shop officials are asking employees to pay 20 percent of the cost of providing health care, Petronella said.

Currently employees pay a 20 percent co-pay for office visits, but contribute nothing directly from their paychecks.

Since the union provides health care benefits, such a move would cripple the union’s benefit program, since many employees would opt out of it, Petronella said.

The company would no longer have to contribute money for those who opt out, and that would drain the union’s benefit accounts, he said.

The company currently pays $475 a month for health care benefits for full-time employees and $120 for part-timers, Petronella said.

The company also wants to eliminate time and a half or double time pay for working on Sunday, and wants to freeze pension contributions at current levels, he said.  ¶ 4:35 PM