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Workers at Quaker Valley Foods in Northeast Philly on strike over pension dispute

About 70 union members with Teamsters Local 500 have been picketing around-the-clock at Quaker Valley Foods’ warehouse since Wednesday night.

Teamsters Local 500 members picketed outside the Quaker Valley Foods warehouse in Northeast Philadelphia on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. The union's members are on strike, demanding the food plant administer a pension plan.
Teamsters Local 500 members picketed outside the Quaker Valley Foods warehouse in Northeast Philadelphia on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. The union's members are on strike, demanding the food plant administer a pension plan.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

A labor strike in Northeast Philadelphia stretched into its fourth day Sunday after a food distributor failed to meet truck drivers’ demands for a pension plan.

Members with Teamsters Local 500 have been picketing around-the-clock at Quaker Valley Foods’ warehouse since Wednesday night, according to union officials.

The union represents about 70 Quaker Valley employees, including roughly 35 truck drivers whose contract expired Aug. 1. They have said they will not return to work until the food distributor agrees to administer a pension plan as part of a new five-year contract.

In an emailed statement, Quaker Valley Foods said it “cares deeply about its employees and their welfare and remains committed to reaching an agreement with the union.” The company said it presented a “generous contract settlement” with “significant and unprecedented wage increases and provides enhanced retirement benefits for our workers and their families.”

On Sunday afternoon, about a dozen union members were stationed outside Quaker Valley’s Red Lion Road facility, braving blistering heat and humidity as passersby honked car horns in solidarity.

According to labor leaders, the drivers’ union has been vying for a pension in recent contract negotiations, which they believe would provide more security than the company’s 401(k) retirement plan. However, management earlier this week issued a steadfast refusal, Local 500 president Doug Edwards said.

“These are hardworking guys, and many of them have been here for a long time,” Edwards said, noting that many of the workers drove food deliveries into New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic without personal protective equipment.

“These guys risked everything to get food out to people, and now it’s time that the company should give us guarantees in our retirement,” he said.

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Edwards said members rejected a prior contract deal that did not include a pension plan; as of Sunday afternoon, he said the union had not heard from the company.

Quaker Valley distributes meat, deli, and specialty foods along the East Coast. The company said it had “implemented contingency plans across the business during this time and will continue working to meet the high standards our customers and vendors have come to expect.”

Shop steward Juan Lafuente, who has worked for Quaker Valley Foods for 12 years, said the union is striking for its future security. At 40, he’s worried about the state of Social Security and whether traditional retirement funds will sustain him for a lifetime.

“We want to retire here,” he said, “we’re not trying to grab money and run — we’re trying to stay. You got a whole bunch of guys who are going to commit the rest of their lives to this company and make it grow.

“All we ask for is a pension.”