By Jack Pombriant

Wednesday April 17, marked the seventh day of the Stop & Shop strike. As with many of the region’s stores, customers at the Somerville branch on 779 McGrath Hwy. in Somerville are greeted at the parking lot entrance by picketing workers.

The strike began last Thursday when roughly 31,000 Stop & Shop employees across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut joined together to demand better wages, retirement benefits and health care premiums.

Kristen Johnson, a 12-year Stop & Shop veteran and deli manager at the McGrath Hwy. location said, “We’re protesting an unfair contract with Stop & Shop. They’re offering take-backs and cuts to our health care and cuts to our pension.”

In addition to shopping elsewhere during the strike, members of the Somerville community have been showing their support by bringing provisions to the protesters.

“Please respect our picket line and please don’t cross it while we’re on strike. It shows us a great deal of respect for being out here in the rain sun wind and cold. Just please shop somewhere else until we’re back to work,” says Johnson.

A 48-year Stop & Shop employee at the branch on 105 Alewife Brook Pkwy. in Somerville comments, “The pension plan and the health insurance are really the two biggest things on the table now. Right now I have a $500 out of pocket deductible that I pay every year before coverage kicks in. They want to raise that to $5,000. The other thing is that if you’re married and your spouse can get insurance somewhere else, they’re going to kick them off the plan.”

Despite ongoing negotiations between union leaders and Stop & Shop, progress has been minimal.

Jaclyn Hannify, bakeshop manager at the 105 Alewife Brook Pkwy. location says, “I want to go back to work. I don’t want to be out here but I am out here because we do deserve what we’ve earned. We’re not out here to be greedy, we’re here for a reason.”

Jim Stoico, deli employee at the 779 McGrath Hwy location and lifelong Somerville resident comments, “Mainly, we just want to get back and serve our customers.”

~Photos by Claudia Ferro (taken April 14, 2019)