EAST HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) -- After months of contract negotiations, Stop & Shop workers walked off the job on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, 31,000 workers from five unions in CT, Massachusetts and Rhode Island walked off the job due to failed contract agreements.

The negotiations surround wages and benefits for workers from five unions.

Without a contract since late February, last month union members gave their negotiating team the authorization to call a strike.

Workers were seen picketing at Stop & Shop locations across the state starting at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Some locations even had signs on their doors saying they were temporarily closed on Thursday:

Rocky Hill

East Hartford

Meriden

Cromwell

Hamden (Open 8am-8pm)

Old Saybrook

Waterbury (Reidville Drive)

Colchester (Open 8am-8pm)

Will you shop at Stop & Shop during the strike? Click here to vote in our poll.

People's Banks, which have locations inside Stop & Shops, said it "will continue to operate as usual for the duration of this strike, to the extent possible. Customer and employee safety is our first priority and we will continue to provide service with as minimal disruption as possible. We hope there is a quick and amicable resolution to the matter for both parties involved."

Since last week, Stop and Shop and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, representing more than 31,000 workers in CT, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, had been negotiating with a federal moderator.

See photos of the walk-outs here.

Recently, the union called Stop and Shop’s latest offer an insult and completely unacceptable.

Stop and Shop says its employees are some of the highest paid food retailers in the region and the changes are needed to compete with other supermarkets that are mostly nonunion.

On Thursday, workers said one big problem are the healthcare benefits. They claim they're being reduced, and with the rising costs of healthcare, many said they couldn't afford getting sick.

"I'd like to see a fair healthcare package. It doesn't sound bad to a lot of people but what my understanding would quadruple what my deductible is. I would literally need a part time if I had large medical bills to cover that," said Stop and Shop worker Judi Geary.

"This is the first time in 17 years that they haven't been able to come to an agreement that was fair to us, so we have to do what we have to do," said Kim Ali, a Stop and Shop worker.

The last strike happened in the 1980s.

A spokesperson for Stop and Shop said "We are disappointed that the UFCW chose to order a work stoppage in an attempt to disrupt service at our stores."

They also released a statement saying, "We are absolutely not withholding paychecks from last week's hours worked. Checks can be mailed at a worker's request or picked up when a store is open."

The company believes they've proposed good and reasonable offers to their union locals, saying they've offered:

Across-the-board pay increases for all associates – no one’s pay would be cut;

Continued “Gold Level” health care benefits for eligible associates – at a fraction of what employees at other retail companies pay and with no changes to already unusually low deductibles; and

Increased company contributions to the UFCW’s defined benefit pension fund for current full- and vested part-time associates – a rare benefit in the New England food retail industry.