For Cheryl Hassett, the workers’ strike that hit Central New York’s largest food distributor this week is going to cause “a little inconvenience.”
The owner of the downtown Syracuse lunch spot Soup R Salads uses Sysco to deliver many regular items, such as cheese and deli meats. When 200 members of Teamsters Local 317 walked out at Sysco’s distribution center Tuesday night, things changed.
Sysco won’t be able to deliver items as usual during the strike, but it has set up what it describes as a “will call” pick-up option for customers at the distribution center at 2508 Warners Road in Van Buren. It will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Sysco said in a statement.
“We are positioning third-party resources to support the site during the strike,” according to the statement provided by Shannon Mutschler, Sysco’s senior director for external communications.
That means Hassett or someone on her staff will have to drive up to Warners to pick up supplies.
“That could be three times a week,” Hassett said. “There’s a lot of stuff I only get through them.”
Sysco, one of the nation’s largest food distributors, serves more than half the restaurants in Central New York, according to local dining industry consultant Bud Loura of Restaurant QB.
It also supplies big institutions that offer food service, like schools, colleges, hospitals, nursing homes and more.
The impact of the strike is less clear for some of those customers.
The Syracuse City School District, for example, uses Sysco products, but has yet not determined whether there is any impact, spokesman Michael Henesey said. Other large Sysco customers gave similar answers.
No one knows how long the strike will last. International Brotherhood of Teamsters officials have said the strike may spread to other distribution centers.
Mark May, principal executive officer for Local 317, said there have been “discussions” between the union and Sysco before and since its last contract expired in August.
May said the strike is based on “unfair labor practices” at Sysco, and contends the company is “not treating us like other Sysco workers across the country.” He said the talks have involved increased benefits and wages.
“But they are not willing to come to the plate,” May said.
In its statement, Sysco gave this account of the situation:
“For some time now, Sysco Syracuse has been engaged in good faith discussions with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 317, which represents our driver and warehouse associates, to reach a new labor contract.
“Sysco Syracuse offered wage increases that would place our associates at or above market, along with a $2,500 signing bonus, comprehensive health and welfare benefits and paid time off. Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to reach an agreement and the union has declared a work stoppage at Sysco Syracuse.
“We respect and care about our associates and deeply appreciate their contributions to our success and it is always our intent to provide fair and competitive pay and benefits, while balancing the needs of our customers and our business.”
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.