The Stop & Shop parking lot at the South Bay Center in Dorchester was packed for a change on Thursday Vice President Joe Biden as he slammed the grocery store’s parent company for proposing health care coverage cuts and other changes in its contract.

“How can they make that money, buy back all that stock and tell you they’re gonna cut your wages?” Biden told hundreds of union workers, shoppers and politicians surrounding him on the rainy Thursday afternoon. “How in God’s name does that match anything?"

Biden, who has hinted at a presidential bid in 2020, insisted he wasn’t there to make a political speech. Instead, he said he wanted to show solidarity for the employees at the picket line. He questioned how Ahold Delhaize could have more than $2 billion in profits in 2018, get a $220 million U.S. tax cut in 2017 and propose any cuts.

“I know you’re used to political speeches, and I’m a politician. I get it,” Biden said, “but this is way beyond that, guys. This is way beyond that.”

This is wrong,” he added. “This is morally wrong, what’s going on around this country, and I’ve had enough of it, I’m sick of it and so are you.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Sen. Ed Markey and State Treasurer Deb Goldberg were among the politicians who spoke at a rally for striking Stop & Shop workers at the South Bay mall in Dorchester on Thursday, April 18, 2019. (Kristin LaFratta/MassLive)

About 31,000 Stop & Shop workers in New England are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International, which has spent months negotiating a contract with the company. The workers’ last contract expired in February, and they walked off their jobs on April 11.

Stop & Shop argues that the labor costs at the company — the only major food retailer that’s fully unionized in New England — are hurting its ability to compete against stores like Big Y, Whole Foods/Amazon and Walmart, which aren’t unionized. Company officials argue that those non-union stores “enjoy both much lower labor costs and access to low prices and great locations,” according to the store website.

“There is nothing we want more than having our associates back in the stores, taking care of customers and our communities," Jennifer Brogan, a company spokeswoman, wrote in a statement. "We have offered fair and responsible contracts and remain in active negotiations to reach new agreements as quickly as possible that keep our associates among the highest paid grocery retail workers in New England, while also providing excellent health care and increased contributions to a defined benefit pension plan.”

Stop & Shop says it proposes paying at least 92 percent of health premiums for family coverage and 88 percent for individuals. The company currently covers 94.3 percent of premiums for families and 91.4 percent for individuals.

The company noted that the proposed health premiums are still lower compared to other large retailers who cover 80 percent of individual premiums and 72 percent of family premiums. The company also noted that the federal government pays 72 percent of employee premiums.

Employees have pushed back against the proposed changes to its health care premium coverage, retirement benefits and raises. Union leaders took issue with the company’s claims that full-time workers make on average $21 an hour.

Yvonne Bento, a prepared foods worker at the Somerset store, said it has taken her 20 years to get to the $20 an hour pay-rate.

“I just hope they can sleep at night for what they’re doing to us," she said, before wishing the management a Happy Easter.

Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, left, and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, right, join hands as they speak out on behalf of the Stop & Shop workers on strike.

Biden showed up more than an hour after the rally began, following speeches from employees, union leaders, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. He compared the South Bay Center to his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and recalled his father working cleaning furnaces and selling cars.

“My dad left Scranton because he didn’t have work,” he said.

He described the middle class as not a demographic, but a value set that was built up by unions. He credited unions for taking employers to courts and securing 40-hour work weeks, overtime pay and other labor rights.

“For a while, a lot of other laborers, non-union, forgot it," Biden said, “but now the way they’re being treated by corporate America, they’re beginning to remember it again. That’s why they’re going to support a boycott of this place.”

Biden is the latest politician to join the union workers at the picket line. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential hopeful, joined workers in Somerville last week. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, delivered doughnuts to union workers in Quincy on Tuesday.

He pointed to the handful of cars in the Quincy store’s parking lot, suggesting the store was completely empty. The company, however, said the stores are continuing to run as normal.

On Thursday, Markey urged shoppers not to cross the picket line. “What is happening is wrong, just plain wrong,” he said.

Biden vowed that people across the country would support the strike until the contract negotiations come to an end.

“I promise you, there’s a lot of folks who support you,” he said, “there’s a lot of folks around the country supporting you.”