Stop & Shop, unions continue negotiations today

Union officials say they will meet with Stop & Shop officials at 9 a.m. this morning in hopes of settling contract issues that are affecting grocery store workers in three states.
 
Representatives of Local 371 of the United Food & Commercial Workers union, based in Westport, said they met with Stop & Shop negotiators on Tuesday in Providence, R.I. The company offered a comprehensive proposal that included limited wage increases, according to information posted to the union's Web site. All five unions representing some 36,000 Stop & Shop workers in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts then offered a counter proposal to the Quincy, Mass.-based grocer.
 
The previous contract for the five unions representing Stop & Shop workers expired late last month, and workers have authorized a strike. But both sides have been negotiating in Providence to attempt to reach an agreement on wages, health-care benefits and pension costs.
 
Stop & Shop officials continue to say they will negotiate with the unions toward a new multi-year contract but have not offered details about the pact. The company also has advertised for temporary workers to staff its stores throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the event of a walkout by the food and commercial workers' unions.
 
About 15,000 workers would be affected by a strike in Connecticut, according to union officials. Stop & Shop has operations throughout New England and the northeast, and has numerous supermarkets across southeastern Connecticut.