Stop & Shop strike put off as negotiations continue

Stop & Shop officials were about to come back with another contract proposal this afternoon in hopes of averting a strike affecting 36,000 workers, according to union negotiators. A strike deadline originally set for Friday has been put off until Sunday.

Brian Petronella, president of Union Local 371 of the United Food and Commercial Workers that represents about 5,000 deli, seafood and meat-processing employees in Connecticut and western Massachusetts, said this afternoon that he was at the Biltmore Hotel in Providence awaiting another proposal from the company.

"I'm hoping they come across with something today," he said in a phone interview.

"Report to your scheduled shift and continue to give your Stop & Shop customers the best service as you always have," he urged on the local's Web site.

Mark Espinosa, president of Union Local 919 that represents about 9,000 clerks, cashiers, bakery workers and health and beauty aides in Connecticut, said in an e-mail that he doesn't expect a strike at noon Friday, despite giving notification of a possible work stoppage at that time.

"We are awaiting a company response not only on wages but our health plan costs are still not settled," he said. "We plan to meet with our membership on Sunday for a vote."

The vote will be held at 10 a.m. in The Bushnell in Hartford.

A notice on the union local's Web site said that, if members reject the company's final offer, "a strike will commence immediately after the meeting."

Stop & Shop and union negotiators have been at odds over a three-year contract that expired Feb. 20, with the union agreeing to continue work through several extended negotiating sessions. Petronella had threatened a strike of his 5,000 union members at 3 today, but changed the deadline to noon Friday after four other locals in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts gave a 24-hour strike notice at noon today.

Stop & Shop employs about 15,000 union workers in Connecticut.

The company has said it stands ready to replace union members with temporary workers in the event of a strike.

Neither side has specified what Stop & Shop's wage offer looks like, but the company has said the total offer includes $140 million in wage and benefit increases, amounting to almost $3,900 per employee.

The company reportedly also has pointed out that its union workers make $1 to $4 more an hour than employees for non-union competitors.