PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Bob Graves, co-owner of Graves Shop n’ Save in Presque Isle, said Thursday morning that no produce or other perishable deliveries to the store were cancelled or postponed Wednesday due to a strike in South Portland where 250 Hannaford workers protested the supermarket chain’s “last, best offer” on a three-year contract.
“We haven’t had any issues as far as order cancellations, so I can say that the strike didn’t have an impact on us up here,” Graves said.
On Wednesday morning, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1445 union launched a 24-hour strike outside the distribution center in South Portland to speak out against a proposed deal that would give workers a 50-cent annual wage increase but lowered starting wages by almost $4.
The three-year union contract expired last Saturday, Feb. 17, after weeks of failed negotiations. Efforts to reach South Portland distribution center officials for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.
