Stop & Shop unions ratify 3-year contract

WESTPORT, Conn. – Royal Ahold NV’s Stop & Shop said all five unions for the company’s supermarkets in New England ratified a new three-year contract, Bloomberg News reported last week.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 371 in Westport, Conn., voted unanimously for the agreement March 9, the local said on its Web site. Local 1445 in Dedham, Mass., said 84 percent of its members voted in favor of the agreement.
Local 919 in Farmington, Conn., said its members approved the agreement, which will pay out ratification bonuses and boost wages by an unspecified amount during the term. Local 328 in Providence and Local 1459 in Springfield, Mass., also ratified the accord, Faith Weiner, a Stop & Shop spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.
The talks between the retailer and the union, which represents about 36,000 workers at 240 stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, began in January. The two sides agreed to extend the contract as they kept negotiating. The agreement originally expired Feb. 20. &#8226