[ad_1]
SOMERVILLE – US Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, who ran for the board of directors in 2020, donated donuts and coffee to workers' pickets at Stop & Shop in Somerville on Friday, and urged buyers to shop elsewhere.
"Do not cross the picket line," Warren said. "Understand that pickets do not just fight for their families. They fight for all our families. They are fighting for fundamental equity and equality in this country. "
On Thursday, unions representing 31,000 Stop & Shop workers across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut voted in favor of the strike. Their contract expired in February and they were unable to reach an agreement on a new contract.
Warren shook hands with the workers and encouraged them with a message in favor of the unions.
"It's a company that has made $ 2 billion in profits, which then got a tax break in Washington from the Republicans and now wants to coerce our workers right here in Massachusetts," Warren told the workers. "Well, we will not tolerate it."
Addressing reporters, Warren reiterated the message she has been campaigning for years, namely that the rich benefit from the working class. "The problem, all over the country, is that the highest leaders think that they can just continue to waste all their profits and leave nothing to the workers, to those who come out and realize it every day, "says Warren.
"What people are asking for here is that they are just asking for a fair wage, they are asking for health care benefits and just want to have a decent retirement," she said.
Marc Perrone, International President of United Food & Commercial Workers, said 243 Stop & Shop stores had closed. Others, like the Somerville store, operate with limited schedules and services.
Perrone said in an interview since the picket that the biggest problem in the negotiations was health insurance. Although the store offered a small salary increase, this would be more than offset by a proposed reduction in health insurance benefits. "When you look at the whole package, there will be less money in their pockets," Perrone said.
Stop & Shop said that employee health premiums would still be below the national average and would increase by $ 2 to $ 4 a week. According to the store, the proposed salary package is one of the best UFCW retail contracts in the country. The company would continue to offer a defined benefit pension plan.
The exact contract offered varies by union.
Stop & Shop unions go on strike; 30,000 workers in five New England locals to join picket lines
Five New UFCW locals, representing more than 30,000 Stop & Shop workers, have had no contract since the end of February.
Kristen Johnson, Manager of Deli at Somerville and Shop Steward, said she was particularly concerned about rising health costs and the changes proposed by the store for new employees.
"We ask our customers to shop elsewhere, until we return, until we have a fair contract," said Johnson.
UFCW Locals are affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Steven Tolman, president of the AFL-CIO of Massachusetts, said: "The goal is to bring them to the table with a reasonable process to be fair and equitable and to have some dignity for employees. "
[ad_2]
Source link