TRUMBULL — Like many Americans, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) has been affected by shortages at area grocery stores.
“My 10-year-old has a very specific brand of mozzarella cheese stick he likes and it’s been hard to come by,” said Murphy Wednesday afternoon, while standing outside the Stop & Shop on Quality Street in Trumbull.
Murphy was at the store to take a tour and talk to staff and local union representatives about how supply chain issues are affecting retailers. He said though he was pleased to see “a pretty healthy variety” of products on the shelves.
The Trumbull store, like many nationwide, is suffering shortages due to supply chain issues, he said.
Many types of products are in short supply lately, including dairy products — such as the cheese sticks favored by Murphy’s son — and particularly cat food.
“That’s a big deal if you’re a pet owner, not having cat food,” Murphy said.
The COVID-19 pandemic — and worker shortages due to a recent outbreak spurred by the omicron variant of the illness — is a major cause of these problems, Murphy said. Getting this latest wave of the pandemic under control is a major step toward a return to fuller shelves, he said.
“Everyone’s got to get their (vaccine) booster right now,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure there’s enough tests and PPE” to handle any future outbreaks.
But Murphy said another way to fix these shortages is to increase the workforce at several points along the chain, including trucking, partly by improving wages.
“A lot of people decide to go into other professions (besides trucking),” he said. “Trucking is a hard profession.”
On the plus side, Murphy said, there haven’t been grocery store closures due to the latest wave of COVID, and positivity numbers continue to decline.
Those present during Murphy’s visit to the Stop & Shop included representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 371. The union represents some Stop & Shop workers, specifically those who work in the meat, deli and seafood departments.
Stop & Shop is far from the only business facing shortages, said Rich Johnson, a business representative for the union.
“Everybody is dealing with this,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a labor issue. It’s a shortage of people going to work.”
Both he and Joe Jarmie, a union member who recently retired, said the store’s employees have been tireless.
“They’ve been working throughout this pandemic, for two years,” Jarmie said.
