file photo by Boyd Loving
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015, 1:11 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015, 7:10 AM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Workers at 11 A&P-owned stores in North Jersey, and thousands more at 84 other stores, breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday after learning that those stores had been sold to the Acme and Stop & Shop chains for $370 million.
The deals, approved Monday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, N.Y., preserve the jobs of 10,750 union employees, including 4,000 workers represented by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 464a in Little Falls.
Acme and Stop & Shop have been negotiating with the unions representing the workers and are close to reaching an agreement, a union official said. A cornerstone of the deals with Acme and Stop & Shop is that current union jobs will be preserved, the official said.
A&P is selling its stores to pay off creditors in its bankruptcy case. But the company, Drain and the unions have argued that job preservation should be considered, along with sale price.
