Somerville council passes resolution backing Teamsters Local 25 in Stop & Shop dispute

The Somerville City Council on Feb. 25 unanimously approved a council resolution expressing support for Teamsters Local 25 in its labor dispute with Stop & Shop. The resolution criticizes Stop & Shop and parent company Ahold Delhaize for threatening to close the Freetown distribution center and urged the company to resume bargaining in good faith.

Councilor Klingen introduced the resolution, which memorialized the distribution center’s size and regional importance, said the plant employs about 900 workers and stated the council’s opposition to proposals that would force employees to accept steep cuts to health care benefits. Councilors who represent wards with Stop & Shop stores emphasized the company’s role as a grocery lifeline for vulnerable neighborhoods.

Paul Weiskill of Teamsters Local 25, a Somerville resident and member of the union’s political organizing team, addressed the council. He described the difference union jobs made in his life and asked the council to “stand shoulder to shoulder” with Local 25. Council members said they would support picket lines if the union chose to extend them and cited past solidarity with Stop & Shop workers.

The council approved the resolution and endorsed the union’s right to take action; the council’s vote was unanimous with a quorum present. No enforcement action or appropriation followed from the vote.

The resolution text (read into the record) calls on Ahold Delhaize and Stop & Shop to return to bargaining and affirms Somerville’s support for the workers and their families.