Stop and Shop employees strike for better wages and working conditions

Employees at the Stop and Shop grocery store in East Hampton Village are officially on strike.

Standing outside the Newtown Lane store late Tuesday morning, striking employees handed out flyers to customers entering the store, urging them to reconsider their decision to shop there, even at a time when people typically flock to grocery stores to prepare for July 4 celebrations.

The leaflets urge people to “Negotiate!” in red italic letters, accompanied by a brief description of the issues at stake.

“The goal of the strike is to get a fair contract from the employer. They negotiated in bad faith,” said Keeley Lampo, activities and communications director for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 342.

Lampo said the union has been negotiating with Stop and Shop for nine months to establish terms of a new contract.

Five main issues are at the heart of the negotiations: wages, AI, understaffing, reduced hours and changing working conditions during the negotiation process.

The strikes at the East Hampton and Southampton Village stores are widespread, meaning all employees at those locations are participating. In other industries, the strike is centered around employees in the meat, seafood and deli sectors. About 1,200 Stop and Shop employees are participating, from New York City, Suffolk County and Nassau County, Lampo said.

Representatives for Stop and Shop could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Inside the East Hampton store, the meat, seafood and deli sections were empty, the lights out. The customer service counter was also empty. Long lines formed at the self-checkout machines. The decision to strike was made early this morning, when negotiations ended around 4 a.m.

Since the strike began, the union has made no progress in negotiations with Stop and Shop, Lampo said. Negotiating efforts over the past few nights have been in person.

Lampo stressed the importance of action to effect change and also spoke about the broader impact of the strike. “It’s not just affecting employees, it’s affecting communities,” she said.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.