GREENFIELD — Easter week is always good for Foster’s Supermarket, but this year is even better than usual, with Stop & Shop now a full week into a strike that shows no sign of resolving itself soon, according to picketing workers.
“We do see some faces we don’t recognize,” said Foster’s co-owner Matthew Deane. “I think all of us (the grocery stores in Greenfield) are noticing it.”
Several Foster’s employees said that the store has been noticeably busier than usual.
With the holiday weekend approaching, neither Stop & Shop corporate nor the United Food & Commercial Workers union have not reached an agreement. The strike that has sidelined 31,000 Stop & Shop employees at around 240 stores across New England.
The main issue for union workers here are the rights of part-time employees and contributions to pensions. Greenfield’s supermarket employees 120 people; just over a dozen are full-time employees, many of whom have worked at Stop & Shop for decades.
Meanwhile, Stop & Shop’s produce section is rotting, said Jay Boduch, who works in the produce department. The store has already cleared out all of its bananas.
Stop and Shop’s parking lot was almost empty Thursday morning. The only people who came into the store said they were there to use the bank or the pharmacy.
When the occasional shoppers come in, striking workers advise them of the situation and encourage them to shop elsewhere.
“We want to help them find other options in the meantime,” Boduch said. “And we hope they’ll come back to us when this is over.”
Management at Foster’s hopes otherwise. “Obviously,” co-owner Deane said.
Organizers of the strike said that the community in Greenfield has been supportive. On Thursday, City Council unanimously resolved to support the striking workers and to urge Stop & Shop to come to a fair agreement with them.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261 ex 261.