Category: British Columbia

The Company’s bargaining committee has been at the table with UFCW 1518 and UFCW 247 since January, working towards fair collective bargaining agreements. On October 20, the majority of B.C. Safeway teammates voted in favour of new contracts with both Unions.

These agreements include wage increases, modernized language, and a path towards full time jobs for Grid B employees, making it possible for our teammates to build long-term careers with Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy.

We’re working quickly to implement all changes in accordance with the new agreements and will provide updates through Store Managers on the implementation plan and timing of retroactivity payments. We appreciate your patience as we work through the implementation process.

We’re also pleased to announce a tentative agreement reached with BCTGM Local 468, which is subject to ratification on November 1. If you’re a member of this bargaining unit and have questions on the agreement or the ratification process, please reach out to the Union directly. Please ensure that you’re informed on the tentative agreement and exercise your right to vote in the ratification process.

We’d like to thank all involved for their efforts towards solidifying agreements that help us to continue serving B.C. families. We’re proud to continue building a strong future for Safeway in the province.

As you know, we reached a fully recommended tentative agreement with UFCW 247 last week. We now have agreements with both UFCW Locals and you will be able to get fully informed and participate in ratification processes this week.

The tentative agreements contain wage increases, more flexible scheduling options, voluntary severance offering, and a path to full-time for Grid B teammates who are building their careers in our stores and are a vital part of our future.

The time has now come for you to participate in a ratification vote on your respective tentative agreement. From October 18-20, your Union has asked you to cast your vote to ratify the new agreement.

It’s important that you exercise your right to be informed on all details and to participate in the ratification vote. This is a major decision and not one you should leave in the hands of others.

Please review the meeting notifications posted by the Union so you can be fully informed on the tentative agreement and to know where to vote.

If you require adjustments to your schedule so that you can attend a Union meeting or the ratification vote, please speak to your Store Manager and they will do their best to assist. In addition, if you don’t have access to a computer or mobile device that will allow you to participate in the Union’s meetings or online voting, please speak to your Store Manager about getting access to a Store Training Computer you can use.

Your vote matters! Exercise this right to make your voice heard.

Since January, we’ve been at the table with UFCW 1518 and your bargaining committee, working collaboratively towards a fair, modern and competitive collective agreement for Safeway teammates in British Columbia.

We’re pleased to share that we’ve reached a tentative agreement that’s fully recommended by UFCW 1518 and your teammates on the bargaining committee. Given the significant time and effort invested by all involved, it’s good to know that this deal will be presented to all teammates with full support of the Union. We thank your teammates on the bargaining committee for making sure your voice was well heard and for their hard work as we focused on what we all needed in this collective agreement.

The Union will be sending information on meetings and the ratification vote schedule soon. We really encourage you to participate and to vote on this important agreement. Once ratified, we can move forward with implementation of this new, fair agreement.

Beyond this, we’re also looking forward to meeting with UFCW 247 and BCTGM 468 and their bargaining committees in the coming weeks. More details will follow.

Thank you again for your continued support throughout this process. We’re excited to continue growing as a team.

We get it. Bargaining has taken longer than any of the parties had hoped when we started earlier this year. We want you to know that we have returned to the bargaining table with UFCW 1518 to work together towards a fair collective agreement. Bargaining is complex and often takes longer than either side might predict. We’ll meet with UFCW 1518 in September, and UFCW 247 and BCTGM 468 in October.

We want you to know that we are committed to getting the right deal in our next set of bargaining dates with each of these Unions.

While we are committed to reaching agreements with all three Unions this fall – they must be the right agreements, with terms that meet our objectives to modernize the agreements and allow us to compete in this province. There’s a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we have no doubt that we can get it done together.

We have made a lot of progress in the talks already and we know we can finalize agreements with real improvements on many of our common goals.

Keep checking in with us for updates on SafewayTalks.ca.

Since we began bargaining with UFCW 1518 and UFCW 247 earlier this year, it’s been our goal to ensure that you have all the information you need to stay up to date on progress.

We have learned that both Unions have made the disappointing choice to call strike votes in advance of our scheduled bargaining in September and October. We will continue to bargain in good faith. A strike vote will not change that.

On September 12 – 14, UFCW 1518 has asked you to cast your vote to authorize strike action. Dates for UFCW 247 bargaining unit members will be announced soon. No matter what your opinion is on the strike vote, it’s important that you’re fully informed and get your questions answered by attending the strike vote meeting and casting your vote.

Not voting means you’re leaving a critical decision about your job in the hands of others.

Your Store Manager may be able to answer your questions if you have any. Also, if you have any scheduling issues that impact your ability to attend the Union meeting, please speak to your Store Manager, who may be able to help.

Your vote matters, please exercise this right to make your voice heard.

A strike vote will not impact our approach to bargaining. We remain committed to working collaboratively with both Unions and bargaining committees to reach an agreement that balances the needs of our teammates and our business.

Thank you for continuing to support one another and our customers during this process.

We’ve been bargaining with UFCW 1518 and your bargaining committee since January of this year.

We are now in a critical phase of these talks that will hopefully lead us to a modernized and competitive collective agreement. We need a deal that works for our company, and for you — our teammates — and will allow Safeway to be successful.

We want to set the record straight on recent communications from UFCW 1518:

• We value our teammates and have always treated them with the utmost respect.
• We remain committed to reaching a fair and competitive collective agreement with UFCW 1518 and your bargaining committee. We’ve agreed to additional dates in September with UFCW 1518 where we hope to reach an agreement.

We also want to be clear that:

• There’s been significant developments in the industry including a new settlement between UFCW 1518 and Save-On-Foods. This is a major development and our company must take the time required to fully analyze the costs and impact of this settlement and the potential impact on the Safeway network.
• Safeway is not the same as Save-On-Foods. Save-On-Foods is a privately held company with no public visibility on their operations or financial performance. However, what we do know is that they have three times the number of stores and market share in B.C. compared to Safeway.
• Save-On-Foods is not our only competitor. Walmart and Real Canadian Superstore are major competitors in the industry and they benefit from a much less expensive labour cost structure than Safeway does.
• It’s no secret that British Columbia is facing a challenging and uncertain economic environment.
• We have many terms in our collective agreement that don’t exist elsewhere which make it more expensive to run our stores and more difficult to compete in the industry. We need a competitive deal that will help Safeway compete into the future.

We look forward to working with UFCW 1518 and your bargaining committee on collaborative solutions for these challenges as we seek to achieve a fair, modern and competitive collective agreement.

We’ll continue to keep you up to date on progress.