In the unions v. Stop & Shop Everyone loses

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The fight for the future of grocery chains and the compensation of the workers that compose them are heating up.

Taking place in the Northeast, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the Stop & Shop supermarket chain are engaged in a long battle.

Workers from Rhode Island, Connecticut and Mbadachusetts left work on April 11 to ask their employer, the besieged employer, Stop & Shop to increase their already generous contract proposal.

Stop & Shop offers all positions salary increases for 31,000 employees, as well as the continuation of their "premium bonuses on a Sunday" for all current and future full-time employees, and an extension of their fully funded retirement plan by the company, increase the company's contribution to the pension plan by 20% for current workers employed for at least five years.

The offer is rather beautiful considering the state of the supermarket industry. In a moving market following the success of the opening bursts launched by Walmart ten years ago and by Amazon Pantry, which is constantly ousting local groceries, Stop & Shop is playing the game of preserving valuable employees and helping to keep them safe. paid employment of thousands of people.

Accepting Stop & Shop's offer would eliminate any unexpected consequences resulting from the closure of the Stop & Shop markets in three states. For low-income households much less likely to have access to fashionable newcomers such as Amazon or Insta-cart, eliminating a long-time source of confidence containing commodities would be devastating.

Unions have long sought to prevent non-union employers from entering the retail spaces they dominate, causing exactly the kind of food deserts that could occur in the areas served by Stop & Shop supermarkets.

In particular, most new entrants who change the expectations of grocery store customers are not unionized, which makes their cost base much lower than traditional grocery retailers. Aldi and Amazon are just two of the many innovators who have completely reversed this model in a market that was once dominated by traditional grocery stores. Walmart has led the way and now, a multitude of players are rushing to take advantage of a very malleable and unpredictable food distribution market.

Price-conscious buyers, open to new experiences, choose once unthinkable options: stripped-down experiences such as Aldi, which intentionally downsize the range of possible choices, from the store's size to the supply of 39 only one brand of pasta sauce. Others are looking for convenience and find the Insta-cart and Amazon's Pantry shopping and delivery service perfectly suited to their busy lives, which are increasingly being experienced online.

Consumers opt for an automatic delivery of their dry goods according to a set schedule, taking advantage of a new convenience brand "sit back and forget about them". Even CVS Pharmacy has a robust grocery market that offers basic necessities to its customers, yielding a significant volume of business to neighboring grocery chains.

The president of Stop & Shop, Mark McGowan, apparently aware of the strike's optics, sent an email to his clients with an apology. He also asked the company's website that striking employees maintain a calm and courteous attitude towards customers.

The strike now lasts more than a week and many stores have nothing to do. In response to the strike, Stop & Shop guarantees that no employee or spouse will lose access to health insurance coverage or will be forced to change health care provider.

Regardless of the loyalty of supermarkets, the unions ignore the new supermarket landscape at their own risk. This is not an example of grocery chains that refuse to increase their wages and benefits because of greed or maling. Grocers are crushed on all sides. Faced with these realities, Stop & Shop employees must temper their demands and thus preserve their jobs. Otherwise, Stop & Shop will reluctantly follow the former powers of the A & P, Grand Union and Pathmark supermarkets.

Stacy Washington is a veteran of the air force, radio host and television personality named to Emmy. @stacyontheright on Twitter!

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Epoch Times.