Safeway Bargaining Cancelled by Sobeys

As we previously advised in Safeway bargaining update # 6, at our last round of negotiations, a wage offer was submitted by the Company to your bargaining committee. This offer did not meet the needs of our members and left your committee disappointed and uncertain.  Future bargaining dates were set for August 22-24, 2023. 

Safeway has now cancelled these dates and advised us that they will not be prepared to meet.  The company claims they need additional time to analyze and review the recently ratified Save On Foods settlement before meeting with the Union bargaining committee.  Wages and other monetary items need to be evaluated against any perceived competitor’s wage costs. 

 No future dates have been proposed!

“The reasons stated for cancelling the scheduled bargaining sessions are frustrating” stated Dan Goodman, President UFCW L247, “delays in bargaining creates increased uncertainty and financial pressure on our members who want and deserve a fair deal now.” he added.

We will also take this time to prepare for the Company's eventual return to the bargaining table and wage proposal.

“We are very disappointed with the employer’s position at this time, but we will use this time to analyze the Save On Foods settlement agreement with UFCW 1518 and we will reach out to their negotiations team for more details and clarification” said Cathy Shannon Assistant to the President.

Your Union continues to be committed to achieving the best possible deal for our members and will continue the hard work of achieving a realistic agreement that benefits all members. 

We will be meeting with our bargaining committee to discuss options on applying pressure to bring the Company back to the table and continue building on the progress we have already made.

We will also be coordinating with Local 1518’s negotiations team to ensure that we are united in our messaging and position with Sobeys.

We will continue to provide email updates on the progress of negotiations to all members who have registered their emails.

If you know of members who are not receiving the email updates and are interested in receiving future updates, please encourage members to contact the Union office to add their email to the mailing list.

If you are aware of any members who have signed up and are still not receiving updates, we may not have their correct email address on file.

Please encourage those members to check their spam folders or contact the Union office to verify that we have their correct email address.