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Opposition to the $24.6 billion Kroger, Albertsons merger does not appear to be dying down as the Teamsters union announced they oppose the deal. The Teamsters, a labor union representing members in the U.S. and Canada, said that some 22,000 of their members work for Kroger and Albertsons, across the companies’ stores, distribution centers, and manufacturing plants. The Teamsters said they had been engaging in talks with both Kroger and Albertsons over the last few months, but little progress was made regarding some of the concerns the union had around the merger deal, including job security. “In our discussions with...

The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate’s antitrust committee led a grilling of the CEOs of Kroger and Albertsons on Tuesday over their planned $25 billion grocery megamerger, which comes after months of rising inflation that has hit consumers hard. “The companies assure us that this is the merger that will make everything better,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights.

Grocery company Kroger announced Monday it will be shuttering two of its stores in Long Beach — a Ralph’s location and a Food4Less store — in response to a city ordinance requiring a $4 “hero pay” salary boost for some workers. “As a result of the city of Long Beach’s decision to pass an ordinance mandating extra pay for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-struggling store locations in Long Beach,” according to a company statement. “This misguided action by the Long Beach City Council oversteps the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but...

Union membership has steadily plunged in recent decades, with understandable reason.  Everyday workers increasingly question whether union leaders, secure in their own well-paid positions, prioritize political activism and needless confrontation at the expense of worker well-being. Now, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) provides the latest egregious example to fuel that suspicion.  UFCW leaders have made their priorities clear in the lead-up to the election this November, and the best interest of their 1.3 million members doesn’t rank anywhere near the top.  Instead, the UFCW considers the pandemic an opportunity to promote a...

Yesterday’s Washington Post carried an attack on South Dakota and its governor, Kristi Noem, under the headline South Dakota’s Governor resisted ordering people to stay home. Now it has one of the nation’s largest coronavirus hot spots. The Post’s article is popular on Twitter, as liberal “blue checks” use it to express their hope that lots of South Dakotans die as punishment for their temerity in electing a Republican governor. As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota’s top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home.Such edicts to...

And the middle of a national emergency, in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a time when everyone is making sacrifices, union members are threatening Amazon: Do what I say. Or Else.

Another supermarket in Brockton is closing down, leaving a vacant plaza on Belmont Street, one of the main corridors into the city. Citing flagging financial returns, Stop & Shop said it plans to close its store at 683 Belmont St. on the West Side of Brockton after 25 years in business. It is scheduled to close on March 28, the company said. “Stop & Shop has made the difficult decision not to renew the lease for our store on 683 Belmont Street in Brockton, Massachusetts, as the store was not meeting financial expectations,” according to a statement from the company...

Staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation have won favorable settlements for Stop & Shop supermarket employees whose rights were violated by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) officials before, during, and after the union boss-ordered strike on the grocery chain in April 2019. The extraordinary settlements were directed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 1 in Boston. Two employees, Matthew Coffey and Saood Rafique, had been misled by union agents from the start of their respective employments into thinking that joining the UFCW was a condition of employment at Stop & Shop. Such...

A strike is looming at Macy’s stores in parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. After four months of contract negotiations, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1445 voted Sunday to authorize a strike if necessary. The union represents more than 1,000 Macy’s employees in Boston, Braintree, Natick, Peabody and Warwick, Rhode Island. Local 1445 said it is fighting for more money for its workers and affordable healthcare, and will move to strike if an agreement isn’t reached soon. This isn’t the first time the union has voted to authorize a strike in recent months. In April, tens of thousands of...

A Stop & Shop employee in western Massachusetts says he was subjected to homophobic slurs, threats and harassment from union members when he crossed the picket line, according to a federal complaint. The employee filed federal unfair labor practice charges last week against United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 in Springfield. Among other charges, the employee claims that he was led to believe he would be fired from the Northampton store if he resigned from the union and went to work during the strike. He also alleged that he was harassed when he did cross the picket line, according...

The Stop & Shop parking lot at the South Bay Center in Dorchester was packed for a change on Thursday Vice President Joe Biden as he slammed the grocery store’s parent company for proposing health care coverage cuts and other changes in its contract. “How can they make that money, buy back all that stock and tell you they’re gonna cut your wages?” Biden told hundreds of union workers, shoppers and politicians surrounding him on the rainy Thursday afternoon. “How in God’s name does that match anything?" ... Stop & Shop says it proposes paying at least 92 percent of...

See link for full album. So 30k workers go on strike at Stop & Shop over increase insurance premiums of $2-5/week and they jump on the crazy racism train. Good luck getting you customers back.

uesday marked day six of the strike at Stop & Shop locations across New England. Workers continue to tell Channel 3 there's no end in sight. However, a union spokesperson said talks are ongoing. Eyewitness News was the first to break the story last week on the Channel 3 app. The last time workers at the supermarket chain went on strike was more than 30 years ago. At that time, it only lasted a day. Workers said they thought the current strike would be over by now. However, that's not the case. "At the beginning, I thought, ‘oh, this won’t...

Negotiations between Stop & Shop and the UFCW local unions continued Monday, five days after workers first walked off the job and onto the picket line at all 90 stores in Connecticut. Striking employees are scheduled to receive paychecks on Wednesday. “That’s it,” said Denise Tartaglia on the picket line outside the Whalley Avenue store. “We don’t get another one until we go back to work.” While some stores are staying open with minimal staff, the Whalley Avenue Stop & Shop in New Haven is closed except for the People’s United Bank. ... Normally, Cathy Conklin from Hamden doesn’t shop...

The Stop & Shop at 112 Amity Road, which was open Friday but picketed by striking workers, offers a large selection of foods that are kosher for Passover because of the Jewish population in and near the Westville section, which isn’t as large as it once was but still is sizable. “I’m lucky in that I happen to have done a lot of my Passover shopping. To buy the rest I won’t cross the picket line,” said Rachel Bashevkin of Westville, who is on the board of Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel. Recommended Video She said the Amity Stop & Shop...

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat running for president in 2020, delivered donuts and coffee to picketing Stop & Shop workers in Somerville on Friday, and urged shoppers to take their business elsewhere. “Do not cross the picket line,” Warren said. “Understand people on the picket line are not just fighting for their families. They’re fighting for all our families. They’re fighting for basic fairness and equality in this country.” On Thursday, the unions representing 31,000 Stop & Shop workers across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut voted to go on strike. Their contract expired in February, and they have...

Stop & Shop workers went out on strike Thursday afternoon, frustrated by contract negotiations they say have stalled. Five New England United Food & Commercial Workers locals representing over 30,000 Stop & Shop workers have been without a contract since late February. The doors to the Stop & Shop in Chicopee were closed early Thursday afternoon as workers picketed outside. There were reports on social media of closed Stop & Shops from Westfield to Boston, though others remained open. “Given that negotiations with assistance of the federal mediators are continuing, we are disappointed that the UFCW chose to order a...

Hundreds of union members and their supporters rallied Wednesday at the Memorial Drive Stop & Shop, calling on the company to offer employees represented by United Food & Commercial Workers locals in New England a better contract and threatening to strike if it doesn’t happen. “What do we want," the call and response chant went. “Contract! If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” ... UFCW says Stop & Shop is proposing a bad deal for workers that would cut current benefits, including health and welfare and pension plans, replace Sunday time-and-a-half pay with a smaller wage premium and cut...

The union local representing about 1,300 Western Massachusetts Stop & Shop workers will host a rally next week in hopes of spurring negotiations for a new contract. ... Five New England UFCW Locals representing over 30,000 Stop & Shop workers have been without a contract since late February. All five locals have voted to authorize a strike. UFCW says Stop & Shop has proposed a bad deal for workers that would cut current benefits, including health and welfare and pension plans, replace Sunday time-and-a-half pay with a smaller wage premium, and cut paid holidays, vacations and sick days for new...