Since we began bargaining with UFCW 401 over a year ago, it’s been our goal to ensure that you have all the information you need from both sides of the table to stay up-to-date with the facts. We were disheartened to see that the Union left out some crucial information when recently communicating with you. To clarify, here is an update on recent contract negotiations at Safeway:

• The Company and Union negotiators have been working with a government appointed mediator assigned in April to help us reach a new collective agreement.
• The mediator and the parties scheduled a week of negotiations between June 9 to June 12.
• On Tuesday, June 9 we began discussions on some operational items that need to be addressed in order put us on a level playing field with our competitors.
• On Wednesday, June 10, union negotiators asked the government mediator to “write out” — to end the mediation and take the next step toward a strike. It is not accurate to say that the mediator ended negotiations. The Union ended negotiations.
• You are now being asked to approve a strike vote. After a successful strike vote, there is no legal requirement for your Union to consult with you again before calling a strike.

Within hours of asking the mediator to leave the process, the Union began gearing up for a strike vote, and asking its members to support it. Here are a few comments on that:

• We strongly encourage you to participate in Union meetings, to ask questions to make sure you know all the facts about these negotiations, and to vote in the coming strike vote. If you don’t participate, decisions about your job and the future of Safeway will be made by others.
• If you have any questions for the company, please speak to your store manager and we will work hard to have your questions answered as quickly as possible.
• Strikes and lockouts won’t make the issues we face at Safeway go away. The only thing a labour dispute at Safeway will achieve is pushing our customers away — the last thing any of us should want.
• We need to keep our customers, and recruit new ones, to ensure a safe and secure future for Safeway and for the thousands of families that depend on us. To do that, we need to refresh and reinvest in our Safeway stores, and we need to offer our customers the discount options they are looking for. The way to get there is with a competitive, modern and mutually beneficial collective agreement.
• Whatever happens in the weeks and months to come, at some point we are all going to have to return to the bargaining table. The same issues will still need to be addressed.
• When the Union decides to stop focusing on strikes, it will be a better time to talk. When we start talking, we’ll keep working on the outstanding issues because we must resolve them, to ensure a safe and secure future for Safeway and our teammates.

Again, if you have any questions or comments for us, please don’t hesitate to speak to your store manager. We’ll continue to share information on these negotiations as they go forward.