Strike Vote = Stronger Position In Extra Foods Bargaining

(L-R) Kathy Renwick, Gurpreet Dhaliwal, Ernie Boast, Laura Nicolai, Dan Hoag

The Union Negotiating Committee from the Maple Ridge Extra Foods met with the employer on March 19 to continue negotiations. While the union has been in negotiations with the employer for several years, this was the second time the Committee met with the employer since union members voted in favour of strike action on February 15.

Prior to union members taking a strike vote, the employer refused to cooperate in bargaining and was asking for even more concessions to the existing contract. When the Union Negotiating Committee returned to the table with a strike vote, the company started to listen. While there is still a lot of work to be done in negotiations, the employer did make it clear that they are more willing to negotiate a settlement.

“A strike vote is a valuable tool for the Union Negotiating Committee to have at the bargaining table,” says UFCW 1518 President Ivan Limpright. “The employer’s actions had made it clear they were unwilling to work cooperatively in negotiations. It took union members taking a strike vote for the employer to start taking this set of negotiations more seriously.”

“We are in full support of the Extra Foods members and are hopeful that the employer will start to negotiate cooperatively,” says Limpright. “No one wants a labour dispute, but when the employer refuses to take the members seriously, and that means not addressing union members’ key issues in bargaining, the company leaves very little choice.”

Union members at the Maple Ridge Extra Foods have been without a collective agreement since the fall of 2004.