Vermont stores feel ripple effect of strike at grocery distributor

Some Vermont grocery and convenience stores are seeing reduced stock and delayed deliveries as a New England labor union refuses to give up its pension plan.

“We certainly hope that this is resolved soon,” said Matt Cota, executive director for the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association, a trade group representing the state’s retail stores. 

Teamsters at the Associated Grocers Northeast warehouse in Pembroke, New Hampshire, have been on strike since Monday, said Teamsters Local 633 Business Agent Keith Judge. 

The strike’s impetus, he said, was a proposed contract by the grocery distributor that would remove employees from their pension plan, instead providing a 401(k) retirement plan with no matching contribution from the company. 

The contract had been officially in negotiation since June, Judge said, but union workers took to the picket lines this week after 98% of the union’s 255 members voted in favor of a strike.

Teamsters representatives met with officials from Associated Grocers on Friday, and the company “refused to come into the room and negotiate with us,” Judge said. A representative from Associated Grocers declined to comment on the strike Friday afternoon. 

Associated Grocers Northeast serves over 600 grocery and convenience stores between Pennsylvania and Maine, according to grocery industry media outlet The Shelby Report. The company is “a key supplier” for Vermont’s country markets, community stores and retail grocers, Cota said. 

Associated Grocers operates nine stores in Vermont communities: Essex Junction, Jericho, Londonderry, Newport, Richmond, Shelburne, Stowe, Waterbury and Woodstock. Representatives from those stores declined to comment on the strike and its impact on their business. 

The strike has affected some Vermont grocers more than others, Cota said, based on store owners’ choices of brand, type and quantity of goods to stock. Stores that rely on Associated Grocers, he said, are seeing delayed deliveries. 

“People can understandably be like, ‘Oh, this store used to have, you know, more variety or used to have more choices or whatever,’” Cota said. “These stores are still open, and if they have less stock, it’s really important that the community supports their local stores.”

The Teamsters plan to remain on strike until they reach a fair agreement, including the pension plan, Judge said.

“We can work through every other issue that’s on the table, whether it be health insurance, wages, languages that we’re trying to change in the contract,” Judge said. “Our nonstarter and pinch point is, and will always be, removal from the pension.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont stores feel ripple effect of strike at grocery distributor.