Stop & Shop says it will close its distribution center in Freetown, Massachusetts, and outsource the work if it cannot reach a new agreement with the Teamsters Local 25 union by the end of the month.
Workers protested outside the facility Friday morning.
“We’re just here to let them know that we’re not going anywhere. We’re not gonna back down in this fight and we’re not going to come to a contract agreement without our union health care benefits included and if we don’t get what we need we will shut this company down,” said Jason Lopes, a Stop & Shop employee.
The company and union have been negotiating a contract for workers at the warehouse, representing around 900 employees. According to the union, negotiations have broken down over a proposed change to the health plan.
The New England Council of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which represents around 30,000 Stop & Shop employees across New England, has threatened action in solidarity with the warehouse workers, including a potential strike.
The company says they are trying to find savings to keep costs down for customers and they are disappointed the union won’t hear their proposals.
“Third party bids showed we could achieve millions in annual savings by transferring the work done at this distribution center to a third party. Our own analysis showed that we could maintain operations at Freetown at a lower cost by transitioning to a more competitive health plan, while still offering our associates significant wage increases and maintaining pension benefits. The proposed health plan is the same plan that management and other associates at the facility have,” the company wrote in a statement to NBC10 Boston.
The statement went on to say that if an agreement is not reached by Feb. 28, the company will outsource the warehouse work and shut the facility down.
“This is not a decision we take lightly, and we care deeply about protecting these union jobs and maintaining our presence in Freetown. It is critical that the local collaborates with us in achieving the labor savings needed to do so,” the statement reads.
Teamsters Local 25 said its members protested at the distribution center on Friday to highlight what it considers “blatant union busting and threats.”
“These men and women are hardworking Teamsters who worked extreme hours and double shifts – some for 200 or more straight days – to keep things moving during the pandemic. Ahold Delhaize — the Dutch-Belgian parent company of Stop & Shop — raked in nearly $94 billion in sales last year, but its greedy, morally bankrupt executives are demanding sacrifices from the very workers who made that success possible,” union officials wrote in the announcement for the protest.
Stop & Shop said they are not anticipating any impacts to deliveries because of the rally.