Supervalu Teamsters Strike Briefly, Then Settle

Almost as quickly as it began, workers at the Supervalu Inc. distribution center in Fargo, N.D., ended their strike after members of Teamsters Local 120 reached a contract agreement with the Minneapolis-based grocer.

Workers went on the picket line early Monday morning, then took a mid-morning vote and brought their picket signs down hours after they went up, WDAY-TV reported.

During the brief walkout, Supervalu truck drivers honored the picket line and refused to carry loads of food to the warehouse. The Fargo distribution center serves dozens of stores in the region, including Hornbacher’s. The strike caused no interruption of deliveries to those stores.

“Two or three semi-trucks a day come to the store every day and to keep replenish the store and keep things fresh,” Matt Leiseth of Hornbacher’s told WDAY. “We rely on that distribution center to make sure that happens.”

Details of the agreement were not immediately available. Teamsters in Fargo reportedly turned down a 50-cent-per-hour raise above their current hourly wage exceeding $20, along with improved health care and retirement benefits.

“When it comes right down to it, it has be something that both sides can agree to and that both can live with,” Brian Nowak of Teamsters Local 120 told WDAY. “We achieved that here today, and now everyone will go back to work and on with life.”