Ratification Vote for Safeway workers removes threat of labour disruption in British Columbia

Most workers at Canada Safeway in BC now have a new 
contract in place with parent company Sobeys

Grocery Shoppers across British Columbia won't have to make adjustments to their regular travel routes, that after the majority of workers at Canada Safeway locations in the province voted in favour of what the UFCW is calling a historic new contract. 

In an announcement this week the union noted that  the workforce with Sobeys voted in favour of the new deal with some of the highlights towards it noted below:

“Workers at Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy stood up together and demanded better from their employer by delivering a 98% strike vote that empowered our committee to make significant gains for workers at the bargaining table. This agreement is significant because it not only provides the highest wage increases in decades, it offers workers a pathway to more full-time jobs, a much-improved wage scale and more flexibility in what their schedules look like.” -- UFCW President Kim Novak

UFCW 1518 officials will work to finalize the agreement in the next few weeks, the terms of the new agreement went into effect on Sunday October 22nd.

The full statement from the Union can be reviewed here.

Empire Foods, the New Brunswick based parent company of Sobeys/Canada Safeway has yet to issue any information related  towards the new contract.

Contract negotiations continue for Deli, Meat and Seafood department workers who are represented by UFCW Local 247.

More notes on the Northwest Commercial sector can be reviewed here.