New England Stop & Shop Workers Approve Contract

Stop & Shop workers across New England voted yesterday to approve a new contract with the Quincy, Mass.-based supermarket chain. The new agreement, affecting more than 40,000 workers in hundreds of stores in southern New England, comes after a difficult round of negotiations complicated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act recently enacted by Congress.

 

Stop & Shop said in a statement on its website that it was "very pleased" it had reached new bargaining agreements with each of the unions that represent its associates in New England.

 

"Our goal throughout this process has been to secure fair and reasonable contracts that benefit our associates, their families and our customers, while also positioning Stop & Shop to compete effectively in what is increasingly a competitive environment," the company said.

 

Specific details of the contract haven’t been released, but union leaders have said it contains pay raises and more affordable health care coverage for part-time workers, according to a report in the Boston Globe. The labor deals are retroactive to Feb. 24.