Hello, everyone. Jeff Traeger, again here to talk to you about negotiations between your union, UFCW, and your employer, Loblaw Companies Ltd, that represents Superstores, No Frills and Extra Foods in the province of Manitoba.
We are coming down to the crunch. Next Thursday, September 28 is the last day of your old contract. That’s when the new contract will expire, and we will either have a deal or a problem. Either way, we will bring it to you for a final vote following September 28.
I want to take a moment to say a big thank you to your bargaining committee that’s been working hard very long hours. We’ve been bargaining last week till as late as 9:00 – 10:00 at night and starting early in the morning. And your committee has been absolutely fantastic keeping the focus of negotiations on what you told us you needed when we collected proposals earlier this spring.
We are working on monetary proposals finally at the bargaining table, although we’re waiting for Monday morning when we will get the employer’s opening comprehensive monetary package on everything. But we have been dealing with money at the bargaining table, and we’ve also been dealing with trying to get part-time people more hours or the ability to get more hours, trying to work on work life balance for everybody with issues like scheduling.
And, we’re also at the table trying very hard to bring you the wage increase that you deserve after five years of the previous agreement and three years during a pandemic. So, we will have another update for you on Monday morning. It will actually be our Secretary-Treasurer Marie Buchan, who’s with us at the bargaining table. She will give you an update on Monday morning.
And then, through the week, as we get closer to September 28th, I’ll be back to give you another update as we get close to the expiry date of your contract. So stay tuned to this website. Keep involved and engaged in this round of bargaining. And thank you for everything you do.