Category: Feature

Mediator recommendation under review

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

Last week, we reached out to let you know that we received Vince Ready’s recommendation for your collective agreement in Saskatchewan.

In an effort to keep you informed, I want to provide you with an update that the company’s evaluation of Mr. Ready’s report is on-going.  There are a number of Mr. Ready’s recommendations that will increase our operating costs and we have to take this into consideration at a time when cost control is so very important.

As every jurisdiction is different, we always apply a local lens to these agreements to ensure the terms put in place allow us to operate viable stores that help secure a strong future for all of us. We are taking our time to do what is right and review the recommendation carefully. It is important for us to carefully examine all aspects of Mr. Ready’s report in order to understand the impact on our business.

Soon, I will provide you an update and more details to your Store Manager.

Thank you for your patience and for your hard work in our stores each and every day. We need to remain focused on exceeding each customer’s expectation in this very competitive industry.

As always, stay tuned to SafewayTalks.ca

Thank you

Scott Chollak,
Vice President
Division Head, SK, MB, ON

We’re heading back to the bargaining table

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

We’re back at the table with UFCW 832 this morning to work together for a deal that will save jobs and keep stores open across Manitoba.

As we move forward with the bargaining process, we want to keep you fully up to date.

In our last meeting with UFCW 832, the union set out their proposal and it was clear we have a long way to go before we can find common ground. We look forward to addressing these issues this morning and in the weeks to come.

It’s a tough time for the grocery industry and rising competition is only making things tougher. The way we’ve been operating our Safeway stores just isn’t sustainable anymore. We have to get a labour agreement in Manitoba. Having a deal in place will allow the company to focus on the future and make decisions that will help our stores grow and give our staff the stability you deserve.

We’re committed to keep working to reach an agreement that helps preserve the future of our stores in Manitoba and as many jobs as possible. We look forward to working toward an agreement with your union.

Keep checking back with us at SafewayTalks.ca for up-to- date information on negotiations.

Why we’re working hard to get a new deal for UFCW 832 workers

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

More competition is headed our way. It’s not a secret that our competition is going through a large expansion. Save-On-Foods is planning to open 40 stores here in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Customers have more shopping options than ever before with No Frills and Real Canadian Super Stores as well as Costco and Walmart Supercentres.

One of the challenges our stores face is high operating costs – we have some of the highest in the industry. We need to get these costs in line so we can be in a position of strength to fight back our competitors and ensure stable jobs for our hard working people.

This Monday, January 29, we’re back at the table with UFCW 832 to work together to ensure we can provide good, stable jobs for our valued team members just like you.

We’ll share another update with you on www.safewaytalks.ca next week.

B.C. Store Closures, Potential FreshCo openings

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

Today, Sobeys Inc. announced the permanent closure of 10 underperforming Safeway stores in British Columbia. In addition to these closures, we also announced five stores that will be closing, but may reopen as FreshCo locations depending on the outcome of labour negotiations with the relevant B.C. labour unions.

The decision to close stores is never easy. The changes we are experiencing in the marketplace are a direct result of changing customer preferences. The reality is some of our locations continue to lose money despite the best efforts of both the hardworking teams in our stores and in the Company.

It’s no secret that many of our stores in British Columbia have struggled in recent years. It’s important that we take the right steps forward to ensure a strong future for Safeway. We must return our stores to profitable growth and have the flexibility to react quickly to market demands.

As always, we will work with impacted employees to provide support as they transition to work in other stores or onto new career opportunities. We will also be working closely with their respective unions to ensure the terms of their collective agreements are met.

Our operating costs are some of the highest in the industry, and we have to get our labour costs in line to remain competitive. If we don’t reduce our operating costs, more stores will need to be closed.

These tough decisions will help us move to a more secure position to grow our business and provide good, stable jobs for British Columbians and the more than 125,000 Canadians we employ across the country.

The stores that are closing are:

  • # 4944 Safeway Lougheed Mall, Burnaby
  • # 4907 Safeway City Square, Vancouver
  • # 4904 Safeway Sunwood Square, Coquitlam
  • # 4945 Safeway Point Grey, Vancouver
  • # 4954 Safeway Royal Oak, Burnaby

Store that are closing but may reopen as FreshCo locations are:

  • # 4949 Safeway Blundell, Richmond
  • # 4957 Safeway Broadmoor, Richmond
  • # 4964 Safeway Newton Town Centre, Surrey
  • # 4935 Safeway Strawberry Hills, Surrey
  • # 4951 Safeway Mission

The pharmacies in these locations will remain open through the negotiations and potential renovations. The intention is to have the pharmacies in the new FreshCo locations.

We believe we can return Safeway to its place at the centre of Western Canadian communities with strong and successful stores. But we must work together to move forward.

We’ll continue to keep you informed in your stores and on SafewayTalks.ca

An update on UFCW 832 negotiations

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

An update on UFCW 832 negotiations

This week, we sat down to begin negotiations with UFCW 832 in Manitoba.

Sobeys is at the table to get an agreement, and we will stay there and work hard to get one.

We want to be clear and transparent with you – we did not walk away from the table.

After the union set out their proposal, it was clear that there were significant differences in our positions. We said we had to carefully review the proposal and make some decisions on the path forward. Together, Sobeys and UFCW 832 decided to adjourn for the week. We’ve agreed to meet again on January 29 for negotiations and want you to know that we’re committed to continue working on and reaching an agreement.

We’re focused on negotiating an agreement that helps preserve the future of our stores in Manitoba and as many jobs as possible.

The grocery industry is competitive and it’s only getting tougher. Many of our Safeway stores continue to lose money and are not sustainable. Our operating costs are still some of the highest in the industry. It’s vital that we get our labour costs in line so we can continue to be competitively priced in the market while providing  good, stable jobs and secure a strong future for Safeway.

Keeping you informed is important to us and we’ll continue to share updates in your stores and on SafewayTalks.ca

An important message for Safeway employees

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

There has been a lot of news to digest in recent weeks. We want to ensure you have the most up-to-date information as we all work together to strengthen our Safeway stores and reconnect with our customers.

We’d like to address three important areas to help provide clarity around this news and other important issues to date:

  • Project Sunrise
  • Our continued commitment to full-service format stores
  • The strong case for expanding our Discount format in Western Canada

Project Sunrise

As you know, the grocery industry is extremely competitive and these effects are being felt across all banners, at all levels of the Company.

To address these challenges we launched Project Sunrise, a major transformation initiative to win back our customers and strengthen our stores. The first phase of Project Sunrise is now complete. Through this process we have created a simpler office structure to operate more efficiently and better serve our stores and customers.

The second phase of Project Sunrise, to unlock our scale, is well underway. As part of this phase, we announced our significant plan to expand our Discount banner, FreshCo, into Western Canada.

Our continued commitment to full-service format stores

We have no intention to remove our full-service format. We remain committed to our full-service stores — they are the backbone of our business. In fact, even with our expansion of Discount in the West, the vast majority of our stores in Western Canada will continue to operate as full-service format stores.

Unfortunately, many of our full-service stores are not competitive at this time. We need to implement changes in our full-service offering to be in a better position to serve our customers’ changing needs. We need to get our costs down and increase our flexibility to compete.

Our customers’ tastes are changing and we need to change with them to remain competitive. Customers are telling us that they want more options to do their shopping.  They continue to demand our conventional full-service stores but they are also asking for a more price-competitive Discount format. Giving our customers what they want is the best way to win them back and grow our overall business.

Through the first phase of Project Sunrise, we have structured our office teams to ensure that support for full-service retail operations is strong and not distracted by our Discount roll-out in Western Canada. A dedicated team will be responsible for managing the Discount roll-out.

The strong case for expanding our Discount format in Western Canada

The expansion of FreshCo in Western Canada comes as a direct result of customer demand. We’ve conducted detailed customer and market studies and found that there is strong opportunity for Discount in Western Canada.

Today, Discount grocery is the fastest growing brick and mortar segment of the grocery market.

Eighty-seven per cent of Sobeys Inc. stores across the country operate in a conventional grocery format, whereas Discount stores, like FreshCo, now make up nearly 44 per cent of the Canadian food retail market.

In short, customers are shifting heavily to Discount grocery shopping. In order to keep our stores open and provide good, stable jobs for our employees, we must be in a position to meet this clear customer demand.

Our goal is to build more stable stores, stores that create good jobs and opportunities for our people.

Working together for a successful future

We all share a vested interest in growing our business together. We need to work together to build a stronger Safeway.

Over the past year, the Company has made tough decisions and changes to focus on winning back our customers and strengthening our stores. We need to move quickly to respond to customer demands in order to be successful.

Safeway Talks Summer Contest wraps up with six winners

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

With the Safeway Talks Summer Contest finished, we’ve got great news for six lucky Safeway employees who entered to win by signing up for regular updates from Safeway Talks.

The winners are:

Grand prize ($1,500 gift card):
Janna Zielinski, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta

Runners-up ($1,000 gift card):
Dixie Hallatt, Leduc, Alberta
Kaylee McLeod, West Vancouver, B.C.

Third place ($500 gift card):
Graham Clifton, Swift Current, Saskatchewan
Gail Lalonde, Abbotsford, B.C.
Helga Jensen, Camrose, Alberta

Please join us in congratulating our winners!

Keep checking in with us at Safeway Talks for news and updates, and stay tuned for future contests.

We’d like to thank everyone for joining the conversation and taking part in the contest. We encourage you to continue sharing Safeway Talks with your coworkers and keep communicating with us on Safeway Talks.

Your input is important to us, and we want to hear from you as we work together to build a stronger future for Safeway.

Alberta Court bans loyalty rewards on prescription purchases

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

On September 22, Alberta’s Court of Appeal released its decision on pharmacies’ ability to issue loyalty rewards to customers purchasing their prescriptions, banning all pharmacies throughout the province from offering a rewards programs, overturning the previous ruling by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. Sobeys Inc. initially applied for judicial review of the proposed incentive ban by the Alberta College of Pharmacist in 2014, and the matter has been before the courts.

This is a ruling that affects all banners across Alberta, and, as it’s our goal to provide the best value and experience for our shoppers, we are obviously disappointed with the outcome.

“In addition to the professional services and trusted advice provided by Safeway, Sobeys and IGA pharmacists, we believe that we contribute to better patient care by offering rewards that help increase loyalty, adherence and ultimately improved health outcomes. While this ruling has now taken away loyalty rewards from all Albertans, our pharmacists will continue to offer trusted professional advice and the best possible care to our patients,” said Jedd Wood, Vice President and General Manager of Sobeys National Pharmacy Group.

We encourage all our Safeway employees to continue their work in building stronger connections with customers and providing great service in store. As this decision comes into effect immediately, please inform customers with questions that:

  • The ruling is province-wide, affecting all pharmacies
  • AIR MILES can still be earned on groceries, health and beauty products and all non-prescription medications
  • We still have a team of world-class pharmacists providing the same great level of service, advice and care as they always have

Our goal continues to be regaining our place as one of Western Canada’s leading grocery stores — a place that can provide good, stable jobs for thousands. And we’ll do this by ensuring our stores are simply best place for our customers to shop.

Financial Update For Employees

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

Safeway employees,

Last week, our CEO Michael Medline announced this year’s first quarter financial results for Empire Company Limited, the company that owns Sobeys and Safeway.

While the results are positive, there is much more work that we need to do. The grocery industry is tough, competition is growing and we aren’t even close to where we need to be in the Safeway brand if we are to be successful.

On the business side, we’re focused on Project Sunrise. This is about cutting costs and realigning our business so we can put ourselves in a leadership position once again. To put it simply, this is about making sure our back-stage structures and staff are better organized and equipped to support our stores, making it simpler for us to do business and easier for you to do your jobs. We still have a long way to go and we know change isn’t easy, but we will see it through.

For Safeway, this means we must continue to tackle our challenges. Even with the changes we’re making through Project Sunrise, we still face some of the highest costs in the industry. This must change!

We want Safeway to regain its place as one of the top grocery stores in Western Canada. We want customers to think of Safeway first when they choose where to shop. In order to do this, we must get our costs under control.

Project Sunrise is one piece of this puzzle, as we continue working at store level to improve our bottom line, all with the goal of building a successful Safeway with good stable jobs for the future.

Thanks for your hard work and dedication. Only by working together can we make Safeway a leader again.

 

Jason Potter

Executive Vice President, Operations

Update on B.C. Quarterly Review Process

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

Safeway’s on your side

As the backbone of our operations in British Columbia we wanted to update you on the status of our quarterly review process.

We believe the UFCW locals have a right to their views. But here is how we see it, as people dedicated to the future of this company.

To ensure a strong, viable company that can continue to provide thousands of stable jobs, we need to be competitive. That means we need to be the place our customers want to shop at, at a level of cost that allows us to operate.

And that’s why we’re looking at all our costs, at every level and in every detail of the company.

Wisely, our collective agreement provides for exactly this kind of review, when it is needed to keep this company operating. Delay will just make change more difficult and costly for everyone. We must tackle our challenges and we must do it now.

Here is what is happening:

Safeway is a proud Western Canadian brand, and we are proud of our employees

  • Sobeys has operated for more than 110 years in the grocery business with many of our stores in western Canada including British Columbia
  • We are in our stores every day, we know our markets and our customers and we continue to listen, learn and act

Yes, we have made some mistakes but we are taking action, including:

  • Investments in lower prices to better compete;
  • Work to update our product offerings to better reflect customer needs;
  • Updates to our Planograms and have better communication about stock to stores;
  • Continue to invest in remodels and renovations to attract more customers

Our operating and specifically our labour costs are a serious issue, and they’re putting stores at risk.

  • Safeway is not immune to the economic realities we are all facing in the West
  • We are facing tough competition especially from discounters and big-box stores that are driven by price and low costs
  • We are taking actions to lower costs across our operations, including reducing our back office costs by over $500 million, but we must tackle our labour costs in our stores and we must do it now

We have to act quickly and work together to build a strong Safeway if we are to continue to provide good, sustainable jobs in the future.

  • We all want to return Safeway to its place as one of the best grocery stores in Western Canada and we are all working hard to make this happen
  • We ask you to urge the union to work with us to tackle these challenges
  • Only by working together can we build a strong future for everyone who works here

SPEAK UP. MAKE SAFEWAY STRONG AND STABLE