NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia, Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Safeway workers represented by UFCW 1518 voted to reject the recommendations tabled by Special Officer Vince Ready in a province-wide vote this week.
“A 99 percent NO vote from our Safeway members gives our bargaining committee a clear mandate that these recommendations are unacceptable. An unequivocal rejection of these recommendations is what we need Sobeys to see,” President Ivan Limpright said. “The company needs to understand that our members are strong in their conviction. They don’t deserve to have their hard fought and bargained wages and benefits slashed because of Sobeys’ mismanagement in BC.”
President Limpright said he hopes that the 99 percent NO vote will encourage Sobeys to return to the bargaining table. “We hope that this strong response from our members will get Sobeys, with assistance from the Special Officer, back to the table to negotiate a fair and reasonable collective agreement, and that Sobeys will finally provide the disclosure of their plans and financials to our committee,” added Limpright.
Special Officer Vince Ready was appointed after negotiations between the union and Sobeys, which owns Canada Safeway, broke down last March. Under Section 106 of the BC Labour Relations Code, Mr. Ready has the power to mediate, arbitrate and make recommendations and orders.
The Special Officer’s recommendations would cause serious hardship to Safeway workers and create a domino effect in the grocery industry, added President Limpright, threatening good jobs in the retail food sector across British Columbia.
UFCW 1518 represents about 4000 members who work at Safeway stores in BC.
SOURCE: United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1518
For further information: Media contact: Kate Milberry, Press Secretary, UFCW 1518, 604.329.1272 or kmilberry@ufcw1518.com
Related Links: http://www.ufcw1518.com