On June 9^th Local 247 President Dan Goodman, Secretary Treasurer Charles Pratt and UFCW National President Paul Meinema met with senior Loblaw officials on the state of negotiations for Loblaw members.

As a result of those meetings the parties have agreed to meet on June 23 and 24 to allow the Company to present an amended position to the Union negotiating committee.

Both parties agreed not to discuss the specifics of the meeting, but the Union laid out why we were in this stalemate and what we needed to get something done.  The Company listened, they met privately, and came back.  Based on their comments, we agreed to another meeting with the Company committee and your Union negotiating committee.

“The time for multiple back and forth exchanges is over, we believe they took our comments seriously and we will see what they come with.  We will not meet past these dates and serve notice if no deal is reached,” said President Dan Goodman.

We thank National President Meinema for his help and we will continue preparations for a dispute.

In the event of a legal strike at Loblaw Superstores and Distribution Centres in BC, UFCW Local 247 will set up picket lines at every location to communicate our message to the public. This planning is well underway.

Some have asked what picketing is.  Union picketing is a legally protected act with certain requirements, such as wearing a UFCW strike bib and walking on a picket line.  Picketers speak with customers and the public, and our job is to convince them to respect our picket lines, not cross them, and to support our cause.  It would be important to note that we do not know if the Company will keep the Retail store open during a dispute.

A strong and united picket line is an effective one.

We express our solidarity and resolve, and in that way, we put further pressure on the employer to see things our way. It is going to take all of us to send that message.

In order to receive picket pay, you must be a UFCW Local 247 active member employed at Superstore or at the Distribution Centre at the time of the dispute, and you must picket.

To continue with our strike preparations and facilitate picket pay, every active member who is prepared to legally picket must complete a registration form which will be available on our website by early next week.  Members must complete and submit this form online prior to the start of the strike.  Again, this form will be available early next week, and members will be notified as soon as it is available.  Please contact your Union Representative for assistance if you are having difficulties.

We appreciate your cooperation with this.

As a reminder, to qualify for tax free picket pay, active members must picket:
                                                 24 hours per week, if you are a full-time worker (i.e. FT status).
                                                 20 hours per week, if you are a part-time worker (i.e. PT status).

Please ensure that you read our Strike Commonly asked Questions posted on our Local News as this will be updated when additional questions are asked.

We will continue to post updates as we have them.