Unionized delicatessen and seafood workers at Stop & Shop hold a strike vote Thursday evening

Unionized workers in the meat, seafood and deli industries and other employees at Stop & Shop supermarkets on Long Island plan to hold a vote on Thursday to authorize a strike after months of collective bargaining.

About 1,230 members of UFCW Local 342 will vote Thursday evening on whether to go on strike after seven months of negotiations when their collective bargaining agreement expires in October. The members are primarily meat and seafood workers at 68 Stop & Shop stores in the Northeast, including 48 on the island.

Union representatives said there had been minimal progress at the negotiating table, making a vote on the strike necessary.

“It was very slow and there was a lot of resistance from the company,” said Keeley Lampo, director of activities and communications for Local 342.

“Stop & Shop continues to negotiate in good faith with Local 342, which represents our meat, seafood and deli partners in New York, and strike authorization votes are a standard part of the bargaining process,” the company said in a statement. “We have another meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) and are confident we will reach a fair new agreement.”

One of the union’s key goals during negotiations was to include language regarding the future use of AI and automation tools, Lampo said.

While it’s not yet clear how tools like artificial intelligence or robotics might be used in the future, it’s important for members to have something in writing that will allow the union to renegotiate in the future if such issues arise, Lampo said.

“As AI comes into these businesses, we want to have the ability to sit down at the table and make sure our members are safe,” Lampo said.

In addition, the union has requested information on store opening times, hours and potential store closures, which the company has not yet provided, union officials said. Last month, supermarket group Ahold Delhaize, Stop & Shop’s parent company, announced plans to close an undisclosed number of low-revenue stores this year, according to Reuters.

“There is no concession,” said Lampo. “The refusal to provide information on working hours is a big problem.”

The strike vote will take place during a union meeting at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale.