On June 24^th a 12-person committee representing members at the three (3) Loblaw distribution Centres met with representatives of the Company to discuss changes and a possible extension to the current Collective Agreement.

There have been ongoing talks concerning the South Surrey facility since last fall and as a result of those talks, the Company and Union agreed it made the most sense to deal with all three facilities at once as many were common issues. 

The 24^th meeting was an exchange of proposals and additional dates have been set up for July

As you are no doubt aware, the Distribution Centre’s and the Real Canadian Superstores in B.C. are all under the same collective agreement and typically we bargain the distinct proposals separately, but have DC representation at the Retail table when discussing proposals or issues that may apply to all. Loblaw has communicated an interest in initiating retail negotiations while the DC discussions take place. As we previously mentioned in the Town Hall meetings, the Company went into early negotiations with UFCW Locals 1006A and 175 in Ontario late last year. Both Locals ratified short term extensions to their agreements which contained as per their websites, “significant wage increases, full-time job assurance for all full-time workers, shorter time frame for current part-time and future part-time to get to top rate and a procedure for part-time who want more hours to have more opportunities to work additional hours”.

Last week we held a video conference call with the Local 247 Executive Board members employed at Superstore locations. We explained what was happening on the DC side and the offer to discuss retail. There was interest in meeting with the Company as with the agreement set to expire August 1, 2021, there is no pressure on us to do anything if the terms are not right.  

The opportunities for members to access more hours and have greater flexibility resulted in many amendments to the scheduling systems in Ontario. On July 10^th we will be receiving a presentation from Mark Oliveira, Senior Director of Labour Relations for Ontario, who will explain the changes and allow our RCSS and DC Executive Board members the opportunity to ask questions. Should we have an interest in continuing to meet we will post a proposal form on the website to allow members to forward their concerns and any changes they would like to see.