Countdown faces stock issues as strike expected to continue

First Union said yesterday that it expected the 700 Countdown distribution workers to continue to strike beyond midnight. Meanwhile, some of the supermarket’s shelves across the country have been stripped bare as product movement stalls. The workers have been on strike since midnight on Tuesday, after the supermarket chain declined to offer pay increases in line with the consumer price index. The strike was to end at midnight yesterday but First Union spokesman Jared Abbott said that was now unlikely. ‘‘Members will be having discussions today but I think it is quite likely that the strike will extend out beyond midnight tonight,’’ he said. There was anger among the workers, who felt they were not being listened to by the company, he said. ‘‘For [Countdown] to tell their workers that it is unreasonable for them to expect to keep up with the cost of living is really quite insulting.’’