Category: Provinces

We’ve met with UFCW 401 this week to continue to negotiate for new collective agreements.

While the process may feel slow, these important conversations take time, and we’re making progress. We’ve had meaningful discussions on language relating to scheduling and Dayforce.

We remain confident that securing a fair, market-competitive deal that benefits you and the long-term health of our Safeway business is possible.

We’ll continue bargaining with UFCW 401 from July 22 – 24 where the parties will be joined by a mediator.

Remember, your Store Manager is always available to support you and answer any questions or concerns.

Thank you.

This week, we continued bargaining with UFCW 401 to work towards securing a fair, market-competitive deal.

During this session, both parties discussed several outstanding issues. There has been some movement on a few items, like scheduling and letters of understanding, however other key issues remain unresolved.

From June 22 – 24, we’re back at the table with UFCW 401 and we remain committed to keeping you updated as things evolve from those talks.

In the meantime, be sure to reach out to your Store Manager if you have any questions or concerns.

This past Thursday, we learned that the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Union and restored the Arbitrator’s Wage Reopener decision.

We advised the Court of Appeal that if the decision was overturned, we would reinstate the wages and make them retroactive to January 26, 2025. We always do what we say we are going to do. As such, we will be reinstating the wage adjustments with retro pay for top of scale teammates before the end of March 2026.

We remain firm in our position and disagree with the Court’s ruling which stemmed from critical errors in the original decision and was partially based on inaccurate information your Union submitted at the arbitration. This ruling puts additional cost pressure on our Alberta business which could result in further store conversions and/or closures. Given this, and to protect the Safeway business in Alberta, we will continue to challenge the decision to the highest court, and we will keep you informed along the way.

As you know, we are currently bargaining the collective agreement with UFCW Local 401. We remain hopeful that we will find a path forward in the near term, for us to reach an agreement that is fair for our teammates while protecting the future of the Safeway network in Alberta.

We’ve just wrapped up our fourth round of bargaining with UFCW 401, and things are moving in the right direction. The conversations continue to be productive.

We’ve made progress on important topics including a discussion on our new payroll and time and attendance system, Dayforce.

Even though it’s a new year, our focus hasn’t changed — we’re committed to achieving a fair, market-competitive deal that will benefit all of us for the long term.

The next bargaining dates are set for February 4 – 6, and we’ll keep you posted as things progress.

As always, your Store Manager is available to answer any questions.

Thank you for your support throughout this process.

Over the past few days, we returned to the table with UFCW 401 for our third round of bargaining for a new collective agreement.

Building on the progress made during the previous rounds of negotiations, discussions continued to focus on non-monetary language, and we’ve reached an agreement on several more proposals.

Our next bargaining dates are from January 6 – 8, 2026. We remain committed to advancing bargaining toward a fair, market-competitive deal that sets us all up for future success.

Following those discussions, we’ll provide you with another update.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your Store Manager.

This week, we resumed negotiations with UFCW 401 for our second set of bargaining dates to keep collaborating on a new deal for our Alberta Safeway teammates.

Our discussions were focused on non-monetary proposals, and we’re pleased to report that the company and the union have made steady progress on their proposal lists. There’s been a real effort to find solutions that benefit everyone—the company, the union, and our teammates.

Like we’ve said, and will continue to reinforce, we’re committed to reaching a fair and market-competitive collective agreement that will help secure a sustainable future for us all.

The next bargaining session is scheduled for November 17-19. We look forward to ongoing productive conversations with your union.

We’ll share an update after those discussions.

If you have any questions in the meantime, be sure to connect with your Store Manager.

We’ve been back at the bargaining table with UFCW 401 this week to work together on a new deal for our Alberta Safeway teammates.

In those discussions, we made our goals for negotiations clear:

• We’re 100% committed to getting a fair and market-competitive deal and we’ll work collaboratively with your union’s bargaining committee to make this happen.
• We also need flexibility in how we operate our stores and manage costs. This is how we set up our stores for success and in turn, secure teammate jobs for the long term.

Agreeing to any terms that will make our stores less competitive in Alberta would put our long-term stability at risk. No one comes out on top if that happens.

You can count on us to keep you informed with facts and you can trust that we’ll tell you the truth, every step of the way. We know that this is important to you and your families. It’s our responsibility to protect our Safeway business and build our collective future.

We’re back at the table from October 21-23 and we’ll continue to share updates with you following those talks. If you have any questions in the meantime, make sure to connect with your Store Manager. They’re there to help.

We’re hopeful that we can continue productive discussions with UFCW 401 as we work together to reach a deal.