& Shop and its union staff expired at midnight on February 23, 2019. In an effort to reach a memorandum of understanding before the contract's expiration date, the five local chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) that represents 30,000 of Stop & Shop's employees in locations across New England, in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut began negotiating a new contract on January 14, 2019. Negotiations throughout the remainder of January were promising, with the local chapters working out "wording" technicalities with the company. However, progress was effectively halted in early-to-mid February after Stop & Shop presented their monetary and payroll requirements for the upcoming agreement's term. The proposal effectively strips all of the company's union employees of premium pay on national holidays and Sundays (bringing the store in line with current state law, which eliminated Sunday overtime pay), while also eliminating any raises, reducing contributions to pensions, and increasing healthcare costs. Negotiations continued in good faith between the two sides, but with no progress made, UFCW Local 1445 of Massachusetts became the first chapter to authorize a strike if needed on February 24, 2019. In the following weeks, the members of the four other UFCW unions also authorized a potential strike as a response to further progress stagnation. The strike did not occur, and negotiations continued sporadically through the first week of April. On April 3, 2019, federal mediators were brought in after the unions rejected Stop & Shop's "last offer" contract. An unfruitful round of negotiations overseen by the federal negotiators broke down on April 10, 2019, and a strike was called the next day. Union Stop & Shop employees walked off the job at 1:00 p.m. on April 11, 2019, to strike against the contract posited by Stop & Shop. Candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, including Bernie Sanders, the junior senator from Vermont, and former Vice President Joe Biden have stated support for Stop & Shop's employees strike for a fair contract. Elizabeth Warren, the senior senator from Massachusetts who is also a candidate for the nomination, joined workers at the Somerville, Massachusetts location to rally for a fair new contract and to pass out food for the striking workers. The strike ended eleven days later on April 21. In August 2019, Ahold Delhaize reported the strike resulted in a $345 million loss in sales. See also References