FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 18, 2019
BOSTON, MA – Today, Vice President Joe Biden joined United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) President Marc Perrone at a rally in support of the 31,000 Stop & Shop workers who walked off their jobs on April 11 to protest the company’s proposed cuts to health care, take-home pay, and other benefits.
Perrone said, “The 31,000 hard-working men and women of Stop & Shop are fighting for what all New Englanders want – affordable health care, a better wage, and to be treated right by the company they made successful. The truth is that Stop & Shop and its parent company make billions of dollars in profits and offer pennies to its workers and their families. It is wrong and it must stop. It is time for Stop & Shop to stop proposing brutal and unreasonable cuts that will hurt the very people who proudly serve customers and their families across New England.”
Joining Vice President Biden and UFCW President Perrone at today’s rally were:
- Stop & Shop workers from across New England
- Boston Mayor Marty Walsh
- S. Senator Edward Markey (MA)
- Massachusetts State Treasurer Deb Goldberg,
- Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman,
- Teamsters Local 25 President Sean O’Brien,
BACKGROUND
Five UFCW Locals representing 31,000 Stop & Shop workers in New England have been negotiating a new contract with Stop & Shop representatives since January 14th.
Stop & Shop’s parent company, Ahold Delhaize, saw over $2 billion in profit last year and has authorized over $4 billion in stock buybacks for shareholders over the past 3 years. The company’s latest proposal includes the following drastic cuts:
- Requiring the average full-time employee to pay an additional $893 in weekly health care premiums over three years and the average part-time employee with employee-only coverage to pay an additional $603 in weekly health care premiums over three years.
- Reducing the monthly pension benefit for many newly hired full-time employees by 32 percent and reducing the monthly pension benefit for many part-time employees by up to 72.2 percent.