Category: Feature

The health and safety of our teammates and our customers is our top priority. We’re dedicated to taking all steps necessary to ensure that our stores remain a safe space where our employees are proud to come to work and our loyal customers are welcomed to do their shopping.

Integrating health and safety into our daily operations helps us to maintain a safe and healthy work environment. Our goal is to exceed all legislated requirements. We do this by:

• Maintaining a management system that prioritizes health and safety standards in all operating areas
• Supporting our Joint Health and Safety Committees
• Ensuring that all supervisors, managers and contractors are accountable for the health and safety of their employees
• Ensuring that employees are equipped with the training needed to protect their own health and safety, complying with both legal requirements and the Company’s safe work practices

We take a family-based, inclusive approach to everything we do. To us, this means expecting respectful behavior from everyone in our stores, including employees, customers and suppliers. Above all, this means taking care of each other with respect and integrity.

We are continually investing in improvements to store security within the Alberta Safeway network. Some of these significant investments include:

• New security gates, lane blockers and customer railings to deter theft
• New visual merchandising strategically placed to block easy exists
• Refreshed zero-tolerance harassment and shoplifting policy signage
• Upgraded CCTV security camera systems
• Managing inventory levels on frequently targeted items manageable areas
• New LED lighting to make stores and parking lots brighter and safer

Should an incident ever take place that leaves a Safeway teammate feeling uncomfortable or unsafe, Store Managers will ensure that appropriate measures are taken. In addition, security bulletins will continue to be posted in employee-only areas to ensure our teams are aware of potential security concerns. Health and safety will always remain an integral part of Safeway.

We know our store teams deliver the best customer service standards in the industry. You never hesitate to welcome our customers, rectify challenging situations, and maintain our can-do Safeway attitude. Thank you for your commitment to our customers.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding security measures in your store, please get in touch with your Store Manager to discuss further. We want to hear from you.

Earlier this year, the Company made the very difficult decision to permanently close the Southland Crossing Safeway store in Calgary.

Despite the challenging news, the Southland Crossing Safeway team continued to provide exceptional customer service throughout the closure process. The team welcomed customers, shared their exceptional product knowledge, and continued to leave a lasting impression on their regular shoppers. For this, and for your unwavering dedication and commitment, we send our sincere appreciation.

We’re also happy to share that all members of the Southland Crossing Safeway team will be transferring to other stores where they’ll continue to be valued members of our Safeway family.

On Friday, August 30, the Southland Crossing Safeway team gathered for a well-deserved lunch to celebrate their hard work and share their fond memories.

We’re so grateful for the hard work and dedicated service provided to the Southland community. Your teamwork and Safeway pride are always appreciated. We look forward to continue to grow together.

With summer slowly coming to an end and school bells beginning to ring around Alberta, our Safeway stores are geared up with all the best back to school basics to better serve our customers.

We know that the transition from summer to school can be a hectic time for many of our busy customers, but our Safeway teammates went above and beyond to make shopping the back to school check list a breeze for Alberta families. As the back to school grocery destination for our customers, our teams tested some of their best mechanising skills to create fun and engaging displays that spark a little back to school excitement – even for our smallest shoppers.

Take a look at just a few of the great displays below – and a special shout out to Safeway Heritage in Edmonton for their outstanding commitment to nurturing families and serving their local community. Supporting the Can Man Dan Foundation, the Heritage team gathered donations to help send less fortunate children back to school  with all the gear (and nutrition!) they need to succeed.

Way to go to all Alberta Safeway stores who continue to go above and beyond to delight our customers with not only the best product assortment and displays, but our world-class customer service. Happy back to school!

Safeway Heritage – Edmonton, AB

Safeway Chestermere Station – Chestermere, AB

Safeway Safeway Bonnie Doon – Edmonton, AB

Safeway Westbrook Shopping Centre – Calgary, AB

Teammates,

Today, we are meeting with UFCW 401 to continue collective bargaining.

At the bargaining table, we are sharing information about the store network in Alberta that helps explain the challenges we are facing. It’s important to me that we continue to be transparent with you.

There are approximately 50 stores within the Safeway Alberta network that are struggling. The balance of our Safeway stores are holding their own, although they have some challenges.

Of these struggling stores, 20 are in the wrong markets. We know customers are looking for discount shopping options and we cannot meet their needs with full-service stores. We are considering converting these 20 Safeway stores to FreshCo. These conversions would allow us to better compete and provide more viable jobs for employees.

Converting some of our Safeway stores to FreshCo stores does not solve all of the challenges we are facing in Alberta. We have a solid plan to win at Safeway. We are investing in marketing and merchandising. We also have a significant amount of capital allocated to bring this plan to life.

It’s our current intention to invest $200 million in the Safeway network over the next five years. The challenge is we cannot accomplish these plans if we do not have the right collective agreement in place to provide stability for our business. We need stability through a number of factors to invest the money. The FreshCo expansion plans are not included in the $200 million investment.

I’ve been on the Safeway team for 43 years and I’m committed to winning with you. You have my commitment that my leadership team and I will do everything we can to work with you now and through any changes, so we can win together. We will continue to be transparent with you.

We take collective bargaining seriously and want to move the conversation forward. If we can work together to lay the proper foundation for the Company’s future, including the introduction of FreshCo into Alberta, we are confident that we can win together.

Thank you for your continued hard work and commitment to Safeway and our customers.

Scott Chollak

VP, Operations, Alberta

We continue to be dedicated to keeping you informed with relevant updates directly from the bargaining table. Last week, we shared that progress with UFCW 401 has been slow and we haven’t achieved the momentum that we’ve been hoping for. The Union has been distracted from proposals that impact you and your teammates. Instead of working collaboratively to come to a fair agreement, the Union continues to slow the process down and focus on pulling us apart.

After bargaining had concluded last week, we received an unfair labour practice complaint brought on by UFCW 401. The unfair labour practice complaint alleges that the Company has engaged in activity that involves prohibited conduct under the Alberta Labour Code. The Union expressed particular concerns with:

1. The closure of Southland Crossing Safeway
2. The introduction of FreshCo & associated disclosure of Alberta Safeway store financials, profitability and sales

We were open and honest, both with the Union and our teams, on the Southland Crossing Safeway closure. Store closures are never easy decisions to make. We frequently review our real estate assets and the decision to close this store was in line with our normal course of business. Various factors were carefully considered and unfortunately, despite the hardworking efforts of the store team, the store had been unprofitable for a number of years, sales were stagnant and not expected to improve, and the store’s lease was up for renewal. The decision to close this store was not made until the week of May 6, 2019, and had no relation to ongoing bargaining. As always, we are so grateful for the dedicated service of the Southland Crossing team and will continue to work closely with impacted employees, and their respective unions, to ensure all collective agreement terms are met.

We have always been eager to discuss store financials with Union leadership in an attempt to advance bargaining. We want the Union to fully understand the reality of the financial state of many of our underperforming Safeway stores. UFCW 401 has refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement that is necessary to protect confidential competitive information. We are prepared to provide Union leadership with financial information to further demonstrate why it is necessary that we introduce FreshCo in Alberta. As the Company pointed out in response to the Union complaint, detailed evaluations and final decisions on which stores will be converted have not yet been finalized, however, the candidates for conversion all fit the same profile: they are currently unprofitable, their sales are flat or declining, they are in neighbourhoods where market research indicates that the majority of consumers are cost conscious, and they are in otherwise solid grocery retail locations.

We’ve approached every bargaining session with clear goals and objectives and a commitment to coming to a fair agreement that balances everyone’s needs and interests. UFCW 401’s unfair labour practice complaint is without merit and will only stall our progress towards securing new collective agreements. We have respectfully requested that the Union’s unfair labour practice complaint be dismissed.

Now more than ever, we have to stick together and stay true to our Safeway values. Our bargaining committee will continue to come to the table prepared to advance negotiations. Thank you, again, for your continued patience, hard work, and commitment to Safeway.

Click here to read the Company’s full response to UFCW 401’s complaints.

As we continue our commitment to building a solid foundation for the future of Safeway, we’re excited to not only invest in our stores, but to do a little good for the environment while we’re at it.

Safeway stores across Alberta are participating in Sobeys’ Energy Efficiency project, a company-wide initiative to reduce energy consumption in our store network, while enhancing the shopping experience for our customers. We know that the largest energy drivers in our stores are lighting and refrigeration, together consuming 80% of our total energy output. With variations in types of lighting and brightness in stores across the country, we saw an opportunity for improvement and are excited to be taking action!

Executed in waves, 68 Alberta Safeway stores are first in line to have all incandescent bulbs and fixtures upgraded to LEDs.

New LED lighting will cover the following areas:

• Production area
• Sales floor
• Vestibule
• Back of house
• Offices
• Washrooms
• Exit signs

The new lighting will help make our stores a more comfortable work environment, while better showcasing the outstanding products we have on display. While the project’s first wave will focus on interior fixtures, exterior retrofitting is scheduled for the near future.

Stay up to date on Safeway Talks for exciting updates as we roll out our Energy Efficiency project and share more ways on how we’re committing to sustainability in our stores.