Teamsters take part in 2nd picket at Stop and Shop distribution center
FREETOWN, Mass. (WLNE) — Teamsters hit the picket line not once but twice outside of the Freetown distribution center Friday.
“We have a company, Stop and Shop, whose parent company is Ahold from the Netherlands, and they’re trying to take strong American jobs and put us on the street,” Teamsters Local 25 President Thomas Mari said.
Union members said Stop and Shop wants the members to give up the health care plan they’ve been using for over 40 years.
Stop and Shop said it will shut down the distribution center if no deal is reached.
“Going forward we’re going to have what we need under the contract,” Mari added. “It’s going to be the Teamsters health insurance that we’ve always had.”
A spokesperson for Stop and Shop said the company believes savings can be achieved with a transition to a more competitive health plan, which would be the same plan that management and other associates at the facility have.
“We’re out here to ask what we deserve,” produce union steward Luis Andrade said. “Because I have been doing this for 15 years and I have done a lot for this place and I lose a lot of time with my family.”
Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos is concerned about the impact on Rhode Island stores.
“We have to realize that right now Stop and Shop has 40% of the market here in the state of Rhode Island,” she explained. “If that distribution center closes, it’s going to be affecting us. We have to ensure that we are protecting the workers.”
If a new contract is not agreed on by Feb. 28, the teamsters plan to extend picket lines to every Stop and Shop store in New England.
Nine-hundred workers stand to lose their jobs if the distribution center closes.
Stop and Shop said if there is no new contract by the end of this month, it will move forward with plans to outsource the work and close the facility.
A company spokesperson added a study showed it could save millions every year by putting a third party in charge of the work done at the Freetown facility.
