Workers from Canada Safeway stores across Alberta have been on strike since March 26.
Voting on a final offer from the company started March 31 for Edmonton, while Calgary employees voted April 1 and the rest voted April 2. The final offer was a five-year contract with an immediate 50 cents an hour increase and a $1,000 signing bonus for full-time workers.
Issues for the 10,000 employees who include grocery, meat and bakery staff, are wages, hours of work and job security.
Rather than close stores, replacement workers were hired at $6 to $16 an hour depending on the duties. However, stores across the province report few shoppers are willing to cross the picket lines and truckers and warehouse employees from Macdonalds Consolidated face layoffs.
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Safeway employees agreed to wage rollbacks in 1993 when the Alberta division ran into financial trouble. The United Food and Commercial Workers union agreed to open contracts and the company won $40 million in wage concessions. This year the California-based company reported a profit of $461 million (U.S.)
“We should have struck in 1993,” said picket line captain Shelley Craig outside a Calgary Food for Less store where 260 workers were out. Employees complain hours of work have been scaled back to the point where some only receive five hours per week.
Company officials were not available for comment.
