On Thursday, April 11th, employees of Stop and Shops throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts went on strike. The union had decided that they were going on strike due to Stop and Shop changing the workers pay, pensions and healthcare benefits.

According to Channel 3, about 31,000 employees in New England were at risk of losing everything since they were not being paid while on strike. About 8,000 of those people are Connecticut residents. The union workers were all spending their days outside of the stores shouting chants such as “Corporate greed, we don’t need!”

There are a few SWHS students that work at the Stop and Shop in town that were participating in the strike. Senior, Gurseva Kainth, shares exactly how she is participating in the strike. Kainth says, “We are on strike in order to get a fair contract. We spend our shifts rallying and chanting instead of working inside Stop & Shop. One of the chants we say is, ‘Corporate greed, we don’t need!’”

Another student, Tori Delrosso also shares her views on the strike. Delrosso says that she thinks that “the strike definitely has taught the younger kids a lot of lessons about the real world. I think the idea of everyone coming together to act on our rights and fight for what we want is definitely a strong concept.” It has had a big impact on her life and taught her many lessons. She also shares that “It shows me how some people struggle with money when they get laid off or unemployed. Although I do not have as many bills as adults I still pay for my car, car insurance, and gas and without weekly payments it definitely takes a toll. It has brought me to thinking about if the stuff I buy is necessities or I can go without it.”

The strike finally ended after 11 days with an agreement forming between the union and the company. The agreement is for the next three years. The agreement includes an increase in pay for many employees, continued healthcare benefits and no change in the employees pensions. The employees have returned to work on Monday, April 22nd and are cleaning up the store so it can return to working order.