New England Shows That Labor Unions Make a Difference

The SAG-AFTRA New England Local took part in several labor union-focused events during the month of April, including an 11-day strike by 31,000 grocery workers.

Local Board members Andrea Lyman and Chuck Slavin represented the local at the Greater Boston Labor Council’s Annual Legislative Breakfast on April 1. Over 200 people attended the annual breakfast held at the Omni Parker House in Boston, Massachusetts, and several local leaders and public officials delivered remarks. Among the most notable speakers was Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka, who stated her belief that people across the state and the nation are craving a return to policies that protect workers and celebrate the contributions of working men and women.

Days later on April 18, local members rallied with a crowd of 1,000 in the parking lot of Boston’s South Bay Center Stop & Shop in solidarity with the supermarket chain’s 31,000 union employees on strike. Workers, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, began the strike on April 11 after months of negotiations to protest the company’s proposed drastic cuts to health care, take home pay, and customer service, as well as unlawful conduct by the company during contract negotiations. Over 240 Stop & Shop grocery stores across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island took part, making it the largest private-sector strike to take place in the United States since 2016.

On May 1, UFCW members ratified a new three-year contract with Stop & Shop. UFCW leadership says that among other things, the new contract preserves healthcare, pension and premium pay benefits.

Photo: Local staff member Ellen Stoolmacher, center, joins board members Chuck Slavin and Andrea Lyman at the GBLC Annual Legislative Breakfast. (Photo by Philip H. Wachsler)