Joe Biden Addresses Striking Employees in Massachusetts: NPR

Union members staged a picket before the arrival of former Vice President Joe Biden Thursday in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

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Scott Eisen / Getty Images

Union members staged a picket before the arrival of former Vice President Joe Biden Thursday in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Scott Eisen / Getty Images

Former Vice President Joe Biden said at a rally in Dorchester, Mass., That the 31,000 striking workers of Stop & Shop in New England were part of a movement aimed at to "take back this country".

"I know you have a habit of hearing political speeches, and I am a politician, I understand." Biden, who is thinking about a White House candidacy in 2020. "But it goes far beyond, guys, beyond.It's wrong, it's morally wrong, what's going on? in this country, and I'm tired of it, I'm tired of it, and so are you. "

Biden, a Democrat, was quick to support members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union when he quit his job last week.

Thursday's appearance in Boston gave Biden the opportunity to face a key Democratic constituency – members of the Blue State – in the homeland of the main potential rival, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has already entered in the race for the presidency.

"It's probably more beneficial to him than us," said Peter Amati, a long-time florist at Stop & Shop in Milford, Mass. "It's the right place."

Warren joined the picket of Stop & Shop employees in Somerville, Massachusetts, last Friday, stating, "The unions have built the American middle class, and the unions will rebuild the American middle class."

Biden's message was similar, although he delivered it without the Dunkin donuts brought by Warren.

Stop & Shop employees went on strike to protest the company's proposed salary and benefits changes. The employment contracts for five sections of the UFCW in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island expired Feb. 23. Both parties were not able to accept new conditions, despite meeting with a federal ombudsman.

Stop & Shop, a subsidiary of the Dutch conglomerate Ahold Delhaize, is asking workers to contribute more to their health insurance premiums. The company says that workers pay an average of 8.2% of the cost of individual coverage and 6.6% of the cost of family coverage. These contributions are well below national averages, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2018 Health Benefits Employer Survey.

Stop & Shop also wants to reduce the pensions of some workers, arguing that the company is an atypical industry sector and is therefore at a competitive disadvantage. Stop & Shop wants to freeze its monthly contribution to the pension fund for new full-time workers. In accordance with the company's proposal, pension payments for part-time workers hired after February 23, 2014 would stop increasing.

In addition, Stop & Shop wants to freeze the 50% hourly premium paid to part-time workers on Sundays. New hires on a part-time basis would receive smaller bonuses: $ 1 more per hour for the first year of employment and $ 2 per hour thereafter.

The eight-day strike has shut down some Stop & Shop stores and idle others, as the company offers reduced hours and a limited selection of dishes.

The picketers are unpaid and say they do not expect substantial financial support from the union. Paul Batista, a Stop & Shop butcher on Everett Street in Allston, Mass., Told WBUR this week that the union would not start offsetting lost wages until the two-week strike, and checks will be issued. only $ 100 per week for full-time workers and $ 50 per week for part-time workers.

Batista added that May Day is an important date for striking Stop & Shop workers. It is at this point that the company-sponsored health insurance will lapse, he said.

Strikers can claim unemployment benefits but may not receive them. According to the Executive Bureau of Labor and Development of the Massachusetts Labor Force, "employees involved in a labor dispute (ie a strike) resulting in a significant reduction in business activities. the employer is not eligible for benefits ".