Watch a video update from President Traeger, your lead negotiator.
Your negotiating committee met with representatives from Sobeys over the last two days to officially kick off bargaining your new contract and to present the contract-improvement ideas (proposals) you and your colleagues provided to us over the last few months.
A lot has changed since your current contract was negotiated in early 2018. We now have six FreshCo locations and 19 Safeway stores making up the group that we are representing at bargaining table. We are over 2,000 members strong!
One item of concern from your Employer is that they’ve refused to respond to any of our proposals on FreshCo because they believe we should be negotiating with the franchise operators at each of those 6 stores. We will be meeting with our legal team over the next two weeks to develop a position we can use with your Employer when we meet with them again on January 4.
It’s important for us to highlight how much extra work has been placed on your shoulders. You took on risks at work during times when many others were able to stay home, and you dealt with the frantic supply chain issues of toilet paper and concerned customers. Your Employer has seen HUGE profits over this difficult time and at the bargaining table, we’re working to turn public support and understanding into an improved contract for you!
We will be keeping you informed as things progress.
- Check www.ufcw832.com/sobeyswest for updates.
- Members of the negotiations sub-committee will be visiting stores to share information and answer questions.
- If you have questions on any aspect of negotiations, you can also always reach out to your union representative.