Food retail strike mandates lead to highest wage increases in a generation
Toronto – November 1, 2023 – This October, UFCW Locals 832, 1518 and 247 have ratified contracts with major food retail employers featuring unprecedented improvements, including the highest wage increases in 25 years. In Manitoba and British Columbia, grocery workers at Superstore and Safeway respectively voted on strike mandates, forcing employers to meet them at the table with serious improvements to the negotiations.
Manitoba Superstore Workers – UFCW 832
In Manitoba, UFCW 832 Superstore workers voted last week in favour of ratifying a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement with their employer Loblaw. The previous month, Superstore workers had voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving their bargaining committee a strike mandate. That mandate changed the tone of ongoing negotiations, bringing improvements to wages, benefits and working conditions.
The five-year CBA includes the highest wage increase percentages that the union has negotiated in a retail contract in 25 years. There are also substantial changes to scheduling that will make it easier for part-time employees to get more hours and for all workers to achieve a better work/life balance.
“We could not have achieved this contract without the strong strike vote and support that Superstore members gave to their co-workers on our bargaining committee,” says Jeff Traeger, lead negotiator and UFCW Local 832 President. UFCW Local 832 represents approximately 3,500 Superstore workers in Manitoba.
B.C. Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy Workers – UFCW 1518
The majority of UFCW 1518 workers at Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy recently voted in favour of a historic new contract that will add over 300 full-time jobs, bring needed benefit improvements, and create the highest wage increases at these units in 25 years.
The agreement came together after 98% of Sobeys members voted in September to authorize a strike. The company initially offered wage increases as low as less than 1% and demanded several concessions from the workers.
“Workers at Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy stood up together and demanded better from their employer by delivering a 98% strike vote that empowered our committee to make significant gains for workers at the bargaining table,” said UFCW Local 1518 President Kim Novak. “This agreement is significant because it not only provides the highest wage increases in decades, it offers workers a pathway to more full-time jobs, a much-improved wage scale and more flexibility in what their schedules look like.”
B.C. SafewayMeat, Deli, and Seafood departments – UFCW 247
UFCW 247 workers in the Safeway Meat, Deli, and Seafood department voted in favour of their new collective agreement. This vote came after a lengthy bargaining process with Sobeys that made progress after members from all unions took steps towards taking strike action at Safeway stores in British Columbia. UFCW Local 247 members in the Meat, Deli and Seafood departments will now see the highest wage increase in 25 years and other contract improvements.
A big success in this round of negotiations was the level of coordination and solidarity that was built and practiced by unions representing Safeway workers in B.C.
“Just like the strike vote that led to this agreement, there was a really large turnout and engagement of our Safeway members across the province,” said Dan Goodman, President of UFCW Local 247. “It is so encouraging to see members stepping up and participating in their union. We look forward to channelling this engagement towards building a stronger union.”
The power of unions
“These successes demonstrate the power of collective bargaining, and the power of unions to help build better lives for their members. Contract victories like these are only possible with the strength and solidarity of our members working together,” says UFCW National President Paul R. Meinema. “Our food retail members are heroes who showed up on the frontline every day during the pandemic. They deserve stable and secure jobs with wages and benefits that reflect the hard work they do.”
“UFCW is Canada’s union of food retail workers. We represent more than 160,000 grocery store workers in every province, in more than 600 communities across the country,” adds Meinema. “We are the neighbourhood union, and we have contracts coming up in many of these communities where members are just as determined to get the fairness they have always deserved.”
The success of these agreements is part of the changed labour landscape of 2023, with strikes dominating the news. The power of collective bargaining is forcing employers to come to the table with fair and reasonable offers instead of demanding concessions. These victories will help set the stage for negotiating success as many UFCW locals head into major food retail contract negotiations in 2024 and beyond.
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