The Union Bargaining Committee for Safeway met with the Company on November 14 with the hope of regaining some of the momentum lost in the previous set of meetings. Both sides tabled positions on the outstanding non-monetary issues and by the end of the day most were resolved and there was some limited discussion on monetary items. Unfortunately those discussions went no where as the Company has made it clear it seeks to mirror the breaks it obtained via the Special Officers award with Local 1518. We have told the Company that we will not recommend or vote a settlement that simply ignores  the effect of the store closures and conversions in this last year on the Company profitability. There are some  positions we have asked the Company to look at and they have requested time to properly analyze the issue before giving a response. We will be meeting with union legal counsel soon to help formalize the best possible strategy on any position we may take should the process end up in Final Offer Selection.

The Union Safeway Bargaining Committee is Sharon Tuerlings, Alicia Whitehead, Doug Insley, Margaret Robins, Kathleen Allen, and Brian Taylor, and they were joined by UFCW 247 Secretary-Treasurer Dan Goodman, UFCW 247President Suzanne Hodge, and Union Rep Cathy Shannon.