Teamsters Picket Convenience Stores

MILMONT PARK, Pa. (AP) - Teamsters truck drivers and warehouse workers went on strike against the Wawa convenience stores Monday, refusing to work and picketing stores over pension rights and extra pay for Sunday work.

"As far as going on strike, I think we have to. We have to take a stand and not give in to concessions," said Ron Kirshner, president of Firemens and Oilers Local 473, which represents maintenance workers going on strike along with Teamsters Local 463.

In a meeting full of cheering Teamsters, members of Locals 463 and 473 voted almost unanimously Sunday morning to strike if there was no last-minute agreement.

"If the company is not willing to come back to the table before 12 o'clock tonight, we will put the pickets up and launch a war," Local 463 Secretary Treasurer Bob Ryder said.

Wawa management promised to keep more than 500 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland open.

"Wawa is disappointed that the union has rejected a final contract proposal, a proposal that we felt was fair and equitable," said Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce.

The company said it would use alternative suppliers and employers. Teamsters officials said they expect drivers for other companies to honor their picket lines during a strike.

The company's final contract offer guaranteed no layoffs for employees with at least a year of seniority, 3 percent annual raises within a three-year contract, a pension plan that included annual increases and time-and-a-half for hours worked between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The convenience stores' labor contract expired Friday morning.