February 21, 2007
All
Ahold Workers Stand Together in Stop & Shop Negotiations
Embattled
Stop & Shop workers in New England got some support yesterday. Leaders of their sister Ahold-owned stores--both Stop & Shop
and Giant stores not currently in negotiations--sat in during the first of a
new round of talks, scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, to
lend support and show solidarity with the negotiating UFCW members.
The list of Local Presidents who were present at negotiations is as follows:
Local
1500 President Bruce Both, Local
342 President Rich Abondolo, Local 27 President Buddy Mays, Local 400
President Jim Lowthers, Local 1 President Frank DeRiso, Local
152 President Brian String, Local 464A President John Niccollai,
Local 1262 President Harvey Whille, and Local 1360 President Sam Ferraino,
Jr.
The sister UFCW Locals have already taken action on behalf of their brothers
and sisters in New England. They have pledged their support, and they
recently a letter to Stop & Shop CEO Jose Alvarez, asking him to negotiate
fairly with his New England employees.
Five UFCW Local Unions—Locals 371, 328, 1445, 919 and 1459--have been
negotiating with Stop & Shop since mid-December. All five locals have now
overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike. Most recently, thousands
of members of Locals 328 and 1445 voted to authorize a strike if the
company doesn't attempt to negotiate reasonably on health care.
"We aren't just negotiating
for ourselves," said John Bourke, a UFCW member of Local 328 and a Stop & Shop
employee. "We're fighting for the future, to take a stand and make it
better for our kids."
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