Stop & Shop employees were back at work in Edgartown Monday morning as an 11-day strike came to an end. The Vineyard Haven store reopened Tuesday.
Representatives from Stop & Shop and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UCFW) announced late Sunday that tentative agreements had been reached with five unions representing 31,000 workers in three New England states, including on the Vineyard.
The agreement is still pending ratification by union members. A spokesman for Local 328, the union that represents workers on the Vineyard, said a vote is set for April 29.
The strike, which began on April 11 with a sudden job walkoff, had shuttered a few stores and left others mostly empty, with few customers willing to cross the picket lines. Some delivery trucks also stayed away out of support for the striking workers. Throughout the strike, picketers had lined upper Main street in Edgartown and Water street in Vineyard Haven around the clock.
Wages, employee contributions to health benefits and automation were all issues, although when the tentative agreement was announced Sunday few details were released about the deal from either side.
Union spokesman Jessica Raimundo said specifics are not being released because union members have not yet ratified the contracts, but she confirmed that all employees would see a pay raise and would not be losing any health or retirement benefits. A union statement said time and a half pay for work on Sunday will also continue.
Meanwhile, at the Edgartown store Monday, the din of grocery cart wheels rolling on asphalt rang out in the parking lot. Inside, many produce and deli displays were still empty, but employees were busy cleaning and restocking. One wore a Union Strong pin on his cap.
Customer Albert Hutchinson of Oak Bluffs walked into the store and applauded and congratulated employees.
“I’m impressed by the process,” he said. “I went through there and I beat on the horn,” he said, referring to the striking picketers.
Other shoppers expressed similar sentiments of support for the employees and also relief that the strike had ended.
At the Vineyard Haven store the following day it was a similar scene, with employees wearing Union Strong pins and receiving congratulations from customers. Many shelves were still bare, but restocking was in progress.
Stop & Shop spokesman Jennifer Brogan said everyone was working to get things back to normal.
“We are working as quickly as possible,” she said.
Stop & Shop is owned by Ahold, a Dutch holding company that owns other U.S. grocery store chains.
Talks between the grocery chain and five local union branches began at the beginning of the year. The previous three-year contract expired Feb. 23. Union workers voted to authorize the strike in mid-March. Workers walked off the job on April 11 after talks broke down.
The five union branches that went on strike represent workers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. According to the Local 328 branch, based in Providence, R.I., there are 117 union workers at Martha’s Vineyard Stop & Shop stores.
A notice on the local union’s website said money would be on its way from the union’s strike fund to help compensate workers for lost wages.
Local 328 union president Tim Melia told the Gazette the last time the union authorized a strike was six years ago. Stop & Shop workers had not actually gone on strike in 30 years, he said.
In statements issued at around 6 p.m. on Easter Sunday, both sides declared victory.
“We are very pleased to announce Stop & Shop has reached fair new tentative agreements . . . in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island,” Ms. Brogan said in a statement. “We’re also glad to have our associates return to work as the strike has ended.”
The union statement said: “Today is a powerful victory for the 31,000 hardworking men and women of Stop & Shop who courageously stood up to fight for what all New Englanders want — good jobs, affordable health care, a better wage, and to be treated right by the company they made a success.”
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