Stop and Shop workers authorize strike

RANDOLPH — A local union representing thousands of Stop & Shop workers in Massachusetts voted to authorize a strike Sunday morning.

UFCW Local 1445, which represents between 8,000 and 9,000 Stop & Shop workers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, authorized the strike at a meeting in Randolph. The vote to strike comes after negotiations for a new contract with Stop and Shop have hit a rough patch. The last contract expired Saturday night.

"It's just a shame that such a good company is taking a tun against customer service," Local 1445 President Jeffrey Bollen said.

Bollen said that negotiations with the company hit roadblocks over health insurance, pensions and vacation time. There is no set timetable for a strike, which would be called for by a union committee.

In a statement Saturday before before the strike vote Stop and Shop said that negotiatoons would continue this week and pointed to being one of few union grocery stores in New England.

"This week in negotiations, Stop & Shop offered proposals that would ensure full-time associates continue to be among the highest paid food retail workers in the region and would continue to provide eligible associates with a comprehensive benefit package that includes affordable health care, while allowing our company to succeed in a rapidly changing industry," Stop and Shop said in a statement.

Bollen said that other local unions representing Stop and Shop workers are set to take their own strike authorization votes soon.

Based in Quincy, Stop & Shop has more than 400 stores in New England, New York and New Jersey. The company is owned by Ahold Delhaize, a Dutch company.