FREETOWN — Teamsters Local 25 and Stop & Shop reached a tentative agreement on Friday, on a new, six-year contract for associates at Stop & Shop’s Freetown distribution center.
As a result, and pending ratification, the Freetown distribution center will continue operations, preserving more than 900 union jobs.
According to a release shared with the The Herald, Teamsters and Stop & Shop officials engaged in “multiple discussions” over the past several days to reach an agreement that would support union employees and align with the company’s strategy of improving the customer experience and lowering prices.
The union will now have the opportunity to ratify the new contract within the next week.
“I am thrilled that we were able to work together on a new contract that both provides an outstanding package of wages and benefits to our associates and supports us in our strategy of improving the customer experience by reducing operating costs,” said Roger Wheeler, President of Stop & Shop.
“Stop & Shop continues to put care for our people at the forefront of everything we do, and we are proud to continue our legacy as one of the region’s largest union employers in the retail business,” he said.
Thomas G. Mari, President of Teamsters Local 25 said they are “proud of our members’ solidarity and commitment to remain united throughout negotiations.” He shared that the final agreement not only contained significant increases in wages and working conditions but also provided job security…for the foreseeable future. We encourage all citizens to utilize Stop & Shop for the best groceries available in New England,” said Thomas G. Mari, President of Teamsters Local 25.
Prior to a deal being reached, Stop & Shop threatened warehouse closure
Ahold Delhaize, Stop & Shop’s Dutch-based parent company, announced its tentative plans to close the distribution center at 136 S. Main St. in Freetown weeks before the end of the month if no contractual agreement between the Teamsters Local 25 union had been reached.
At the time, union members called for boycotts of Stop & Shop stores and picketed outside of the warehouse in response to Stop & Shop threatening to strip Teamsters of their healthcare benefits, in addition to eliminating birthday bonuses, overtime for part-timers, and adding surcharges for smokers.
A strike would have come with impacts
According to Sean Martin, a spokesman for the union and previous reports from Gannett news partner WCVB Boston, Stop & Shop lost $345 Million during an 11-day strike in 2019 involving 31,000 employees from several stores around southeastern Massachusetts.
Closure would have removed big taxpayer from Freetown
Closing Stop & Shop’s warehouse would have hit Freetown’s finances hard. According to Freetown’s public taxpayer records, Stop & Shop was billed a little over $1.8 million in property taxes in the 2025 fiscal year.
Freetown charged the company $315,000 in property taxes, and over $560,000 on water and sewer taxes. The company was billed a little under $389,000 in excise taxes, including motor vehicle registration.
Teamsters railed against $94 billion revenues raked in by Stop & Shop last year, but according to Ahold Delhaize’s website, reported aggregate gains for its 17 worldwide brands rested at $89.4, excluding money made at the gas pump.
According to earlier reports, Stop & Shop was planning to subcontract the work to a non-union facility in Pennsylvania.