St. Louis-area grocery hit by strike taking orders online

ST. LOUIS -- One of three St. Louis-area grocery store chains affected by a labor dispute now in its third week resumed taking grocery orders online Tuesday, pitching the service to consumers unwilling to cross picket lines.

But the union for more than 10,000 workers affected by the strike and lockout involving 96 stores insisted the Schnuck Markets Inc.'s "Express Connection" program would produce meager results.

"It is a way to circumvent the picket line; that's a fact," said Ed Finkelstein, a spokesman for members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655. "But it also says to us that we're correct when we say people are not shopping in the stores and are supporting the strike.

Finkelstein said Schnucks "is looking for a way to bump up their income, and that's an indirect confirmation that the picket lines are working."

Schnucks countered that its online-shopping offering has dated to 1997, well before union workers at St. Louis area Schnucks, Shop 'n Save Warehouse Foods Inc. and Dierbergs Markets Inc. stores overwhelmingly voted Oct. 7 in favor of a strike.

Store executives have called the union-rejected, four-year contract proposal their best and final offer. No new labor talks are planned.

Also Tuesday, the AFL-CIO's Greater St. Louis Labor Council said it would begin asking unions throughout the region for donations to cover financial needs of Local 655 members "during what is projected to be a long strike."

'A little breathing room'

Schnucks had suspended its Express Connection when the labor dispute began Oct. 7, focusing on keeping its stores running under reduced hours as it joined the other two chains in hiring temporary replacement workers.

"Now that we're into Day 15, we have a little breathing room," Schnucks spokeswoman Lori Willis said.

Under the online program reintroduced Tuesday, consumers who order at least $75 in groceries using Schnucks' Web site can get free delivery "as an added bonus" for a limited time. Orders placed before 11 a.m. will get their orders the same day, the company said.

Fees for same-day delivery have been $15.50, $3 more than next-day delivery.

"We cannot predict how long this work stoppage will last, so it's important that we do all we can to ensure our customers are not further inconvenienced," said Randy Wedel, Schnucks' senior vice president of marketing and merchandising.

Willis acknowledged that Express Connection "has never been a major part of our business," with the service largely billed as convenient to senior citizens, the disabled and "families who find themselves short on time."

More than two weeks into the labor dispute, smaller markets have reported spikes in business, courtesy of union-backing shoppers refusing to cross the picket lines.

At Johnny's Market in south St. Louis County, store manager John Bantle said traffic had quadrupled over the past two weeks. The store has hired 45 workers who have been striking or locked out, and full-time employees were working 70 hours a week -- at times, more.

"It's just crazy," Bantle said from the family-owned business where the parking lot has overflowed since the labor dispute began. "The first week was a nightmare -- when you only get a few deliveries a week and all of a sudden you need a few deliveries a day. It's tough.

"But now we're stocked up and looking good."