Month: April 2018

In a ruling published yesterday, Arbitrator Chris Sullivan sided with UFCW 1518 in removing Save-On-Foods 2219 (former IGA – Main St.) from quarterly review and restoring the full terms of the collective agreement.

The decision includes the return to full- and part-time rates of pay for Grid A employees, the restoration of accumulated time off (ATO), 2017 and 2018 wage increases, the removal of vendor stocking as well as the removal of weekly maximization to the 15 percent of the bottom of the schedule. Additionally, all job posting and key personnel provisions have been returned to the full terms of the agreement.

“This is a major win for our members,” said Secretary-Treasurer Kim Novak. “They helped the store get back on track financially, went through the difficulty of quarterly review and now they’ve been returned to the full terms of the collective agreement, including the return of ATO, wage increases and all other terms.”

Overwaitea Food Group bought the struggling IGA in April 2016 and invoked the quarterly review language in order to improve the store’s financial viability. Quarterly review is a process under the collective agreement that allows the employer to ask for temporary concessions in order to prevent store closures. In February 2017, the Quarterly Review Committee, which consists of members elected from the store, agreed to accept temporary concessions. Importantly, the agreement contained a wage increase, which members at that store hadn’t seen in five years. But it also froze wages and suspended ATO entitlements until the store reached the target of improved financial performance. This followed months of discussion and an examination of the financial records disclosed by the employer.

“The quarterly review process is often a long one – it takes time to turn a store around. But our members persevered and our committee never stopped fighting. We’re going to continue to fight for all of our members at stores that remain on quarterly review,” Novak added. “I want to thank the leadership of union representative Fred Scott, as well as the hard work of the Quarterly Review Committee, including members Tom Szabo, Melissa Fierro, and Tammy Robinson throughout this process.”

Twenty one delegates from UFCW 1518 join President Ivan Limpright at UFCW’s 8th International Convention this week in Las Vegas. Held every five years, the International Convention is the highest decision making body of the union, which consists of more than 1000 UFCW locals from across North America.

“As a union that values democracy, it is essential that we come together to discuss the issues facing our members and vote on the resolutions that will set the course for the next five years,” said President Limpright. “In this age of global corporate power, we can’t overestimate the value of solidarity across borders when it comes to protecting workers’ rights and the environment.”

More than 2,500 UFCW activists, including 350 members from the UFCW Canada caucus, joined together for the opening day today. “We have an important task before us,” President Limpright continued. “We will be laying out the future for this continent’s most progressive union, guided by the ideals of unity, family, community, and worth.”

Resolutions before convention touch on a variety of issues, including those that make up the union’s social justice mandate, such as fighting against domestic violence, advocating for immigrant workers’ rights and promoting worker self-determination. Rank and file delegates elected from the UFCW 1518’s membership along with the leadership will represent the local’s interests and ensure the members’ collective voice is heard.

Each day of the conference is dedicated to one of the four main ideals. Unity, the theme of the first day, stems from the conviction that no one should have to struggle alone. “As a local we are 22,000 members strong,” President Limpright added. “But when 1.3 million members of UFCW stand together, we have the power to create a better, more just work place. Anything is possible.”

As part of its commitment to improve fairness for workers, the NDP is conducting a review of the BC Labour Relations Code. The Labour Relations Code is the main legislation governing employment standards  in the province’s unionized workplaces and guarantees that right of every employee to join a union.

A review panel consisting of a labour representative, an employer representative and a chair person is holding public consultations and reviewing the Code to ensure BC’s unionized workplaces support fair laws for workers and businesses, and are consistent with the labour rights and protections enjoyed by other Canadians. This is the first review of the code since 2003.

“The current legislation is creating significant challenges for workers wanting to form unions, especially in sectors with high levels of turnover and seasonal workers,” UFCW 1518 organizer Keith Murdoch told the three-person panel.

Murdoch described a recent organizing campaign in Whistler-Blackcomb where the employer had an unfair advantage as it had sole access to the employee list. Equal access to the employee list is essential “to provide workers with the building blocks to form their union while ensuring that all workers have a fair opportunity to make an informed choice about joining the union or not.”

In addition to access to the employee list, UFCW 1518 made other recommendations to ensure the Code meets the need for meaningful access to collective bargaining, including a return to card-based certification, reducing the maximum time for a vote, and restoring the prohibition to anti-union campaigning. “Mandatory vote systems are a demonstrated invitation to improper and unlawful employer conduct that prevents the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of association by employees,” the union stated in its written submission.

In an effort to eliminate anti-union pressure from the employer, UFCW 1518 also recommended reinstating the prohibition against this. That would “address employer interference during certification campaigns and assist in leveling the inherent employer-employee power imbalance” in the workplace, which has been recognized as “an improper barrier to access to collective bargaining.”

Added Murdoch: “The employer has a lot of power over their employees. They shouldn’t be allowed to use their resources and influence to steer workers to a decision that they prefer.”

Public consultations on the Labour Relations Code continue across the province until April 24. You can read UFCW 1518’s submission here.

UFCW 1518 will hold a conference for members working in the community health and social services sector May 6-9 at the Sheraton Guilford in Surrey, BC.

About 90 activists and stewards will attend the conference, which will take the pulse of our membership in terms of issues, challenges and future vision. Through panels and workshops, the conference will focus on building solidarity, providing learning opportunities and preparing for bargaining for those members under the HEABC and CSSEA collective agreements.

“I’m excited to be bringing all of our members who work in community health and social services together to discuss important issues they experience every day,” said Secretary-Treasurer Kim Novak. “Our members face unique challenges, such as health and safety, and in particular violence on the job. We need to face those head on, and we need to face them together.”

Novak said that even though the union’s health care members may be working under different collective agreements, the opportunity to come together is “incredibly valuable”, especially with negotiations on the horizon. “Our members who work in health are passionate about what they do, and we’re looking forward to a conference focused on discussing the issues they’ve told us matter most to them, including much needed wage, benefit, scheduling and workplace improvements,” says Novak. “We are each other’s greatest allies, and by standing together in solidarity, we can fight unfairness in the workplace.”

The conference will feature a Labour Women in Leadership panel as well as sessions on the history of collective bargaining in the health care sector and how to organize and engage community health members. For members under the HEABC and CSSEA agreements, there will be sessions to review bargaining proposals and structure.

The Pulse, a daily e-newsletter published during the conference, will be emailed to all community health and social services members. Those wishing to receive the e-newsletter should ensure the union has their correct contact information. Please contact Member Records at 604.526.1518 to ensure your email address is updated and active!