Two LI Stop & Shop locations go on strike amid contract negotiations

Union members have begun a strike at two Stop & Shop locations in the Hamptons after a slowdown in collective bargaining with the supermarket chain, union officials said.

The two stores, one at 167 Main Street in Southampton and the other at 67 New Town Lane in East Hampton, began a strike early Tuesday morning following a late-night wage negotiation between Stop & Shop and members of UFCW Local 342. The strike is limited for now to the two stores, where the union represents all workers, including cashiers.

“While we are disappointed that members of Local 342 union temporarily walked off the job at two of our stores today, Stop & Shop and its employees are ready to continue serving customers,” Stop & Shop said in a statement.

“Our stores will remain open and we will continue to serve our customers,” the company said. “Stop & Shop will continue to negotiate in good faith with Local 342 and we are confident we will soon reach a fair new agreement.”

The local represents about 1,230 workers, mostly meat and seafood workers, at 68 of the supermarket chain’s Northeast locations. Members voted to strike on June 20 after their previous contract expired in October and was negotiated for eight months.

The supermarket has 50 stores in Nassau and Suffolk counties, the supermarket chain said last month.

Union officials said they had held several collective bargaining negotiations since the strike was authorized last month.

“Something has happened,” said Keeley Lampo, director of activities and communications for Local 342.

However, the union said there had been little progress in two key areas: the inclusion of language on automation and artificial intelligence, and pay differentials for part-time workers.

“We are waiting for the big aspects, namely the technology language and some of the wage differences for part-time workers,” Lampo said.

Lampo said the latest round of negotiations lasted until about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning without any progress on the union’s demands. She said the strike has so far been limited to the two Hamptons stores because the union does not want to inconvenience too many customers.

“Right now, it’s just the two locations,” Lampo said. “It’s not the whole chain. We don’t want to disrupt anyone’s plans, especially with July 4 coming up, but there has to be movement.”