Over 30,000 staff at Stop & Shop, an American supermarket chain that belongs to Belgian-Dutch Ahold Delhaize, have been on strike since Thursday as they protest against the low wages and the rising health insurance premiums. The chain is planning to implement substantial cost-cutting measures.
Cut-backs
According to trade union UFCW, Stop & Shop is looking to drastically cut back spending on wages and health insurance. The health insurance premium is rumoured to go up for all workers. In addition, new employees would no longer be entitled to a pension plan and no longer get paid a bonus for working on Sundays.
In protest, over 30,000 staff downed tools on Thursday. In response, the supermarket activated a contingency plan, bringing in temporary replacements, which allowed Stop & Go to reopen its doors on Friday. Nonetheless, the store chain was badly affected by the industrial action, with various stores remaining closed on Saturday too.
Stop & Shop runs over 400 stores across New England and the states of New Jersey and New York. The chain is part of Ahold Delhaize and has a workforce in excess of 60,000 employees.
