METHUEN — Protesters will greet customers at Shaw's supermarkets across New England this weekend, urging them to shop elsewhere.
"Shaw's has become the poster child for corporate greed," said Russ Davis, executive director of Massachusetts Jobs With Justice, a coalition of labor, community and religious organizations.
Labor leaders announced yesterday that workers from the Shaw's warehouse on Danton Drive in Methuen and their allies are holding "mobile pickets" at Shaw's stores throughout New England.
Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 791 have been on strike since March 7 because of what they and their allies call "major cuts demanded by the company." Employees voted 228-8 on March 7 to reject a contract offer and go on strike.
Shaw's has announced plans to permanently replace striking UFCW members and to lay off 4 percent of the company workforce.
Davis said picketers will ask customers not to shop at Shaw's until the dispute is settled. They will also urge shoppers to express their dismay with store managers, he said. "Over time, this is really going to hurt Shaw's' business," Davis said.
There are about 200 Shaw's stores in New England, according to the company's Web site.
"We believe the union continues to perpetuate an unnecessary strike, trying to draw attention away from the fact that the contract offer on the table is not only fair and reasonable, but also realistic in the current business environment," said company spokeswoman Judy Chong. "We want our customers to know that we are ready to serve them and we have an obligation as a company to protect our business and the livelihoods of our other 25,000 associates in New England."
A contract offer that increases wages for all Methuen workers, who make an average of $19.06 an hour, remains on the table. The offer includes a 4.2 percent pay increase, on average, over four years, along with bonuses and continuing contributions to 401K plans and company-paid pensions. The company's health care contributions would increase by up to 19 percent, Chong said.
A federal mediator has been called in for negotiations on Monday, Davis said. "Our deepest hope is that this gets settled as soon as possible," he said.
Davis said money and food is being collected to help workers weather the strike.
