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Month: May 2023

IGA #11 Celebrates Wages Increases and More

May 23, 2023

After a strong show of solidarity, workers at IGA 11 in Vancouver have ratified their newest Collective Agreement, ushering in improvements that will make their life in the city more affordable and the downtown store fairer.

The agreement features wage increases over three years, including a significant boost to the starting rate that will improve recruitment and staffing. Other changes to the wage grid will see members rewarded for their dedication sooner, reaching top-rate wages after only four years. It used to take workers six years of service before they earned top-rate.

Other notable improvements include better sick time and a paid, statutory holiday for September 30, in honour of National Truth and Reconciliation Day.

This Collective Agreement is reflective of a larger movement that’s growing across BC’s grocery stores, where workers are fighting for the respect that they deserve and dignified wages. After keeping businesses running through fires, floods and a pandemic, retail workers should be rewarded for their services, and UFCW 1518 is ensuring this happens by shoring up power in workplaces and building solidarity with the public.

Find out more about our fight for retail workers at the Respect Retail Workers homepage. If you’re interested in building power at your workplace, learn more about joining a union at ufcw1518.com/join-us.

Save-On-Foods Bargaining Update May 19

May 19, 2023

Union Tables Wage Improvements and Wage-Related Proposals

After bargaining hard this week, we are pleased to share that we have tabled wage improvements and wage-related proposals with Save-On-Foods. These proposals come from the priorities that thousands of members identified in bargaining surveys we sent out last year.

The wage proposals include: 

  • Significant wage increases for every employee
  • Significant wage increases for members at top rate
  • A shorter wage scale for employees to get to a higher top rate faster
  • Significant wage improvements for Pharmacy Assistants and Regulated Techs
  • Wage increases and overtime pay for salary Supervisors and Department Managers (and payout of the hours bank)

If you would like to learn more about the monetary proposals and other items that have been brought forward, please check out our Save-On-Foods bargaining page.

In the coming weeks, your solidarity and support will be critical in these negotiations. Our committee will continue to work through the remaining outstanding items, including the fight for consecutive days for all employees, more consistent scheduling, more ability for workers to prioritize the time they’re available to work, and respect for seniority!

Stay tuned to your email for updates and actions as we push hard for the deal that you deserve.

In solidarity,

The Save-On-Foods Bargaining Committee:

Jaime Emerson – Abbotsford – Pharmacy Assistant
Jimbo Grant  – Maple Ridge  – Cross Classified 
Dave Diamond  – Kelowna – Cross Classified 
Erica Jones  – Pitt Meadows – Cross Classified  
Josephine Bustin  – Tsawwassen – Post-2013 Dept Manager and former Restaurant 
Chris Holowka – Prince George – Cross Classified 
Anita Letendre – North Van – Cross Classified 
Marylou Fonda – Ft St James – Cross Classified 
Joel Simmons – Nanaimo – Post 2013 Dept Manager
Katie Guerin – Kamloops – Cross Classified 
David Gutierrez – Surrey – Cross Classified 
Cheryl Vincenzi – Central Fill – liaison to the committee for Pharmacy discussions

UFCW 1518 Staff negotiators: Stephen Portman and Ronda Melbourne

Sobeys Bargaining Update May 11

May 11, 2023

Setting Our Monetary Agenda

After bargaining hard for nine days, which stretched through last weekend, your Committee made a significant move today and tabled our full monetary package to Sobeys.

This monetary package reflects the hard work that you do in your stores every day. We received thousands of responses from Sobeys members in the bargaining surveys we sent out. Overwhelmingly, the top priorities are wage improvements, so we’re setting a strong and clear agenda for our monetary conversations.

As your Bargaining Committee, we are deeply committed to doing whatever we need to get a fair deal with Sobeys. We need your unequivocal support to get the job done. 

Are you a Safeway employee or a FreshCo Pharmacy member in BC? Will you show solidarity with the Bargaining Committee today by clicking on the link below? We know that UFCW 1518 members are not interested in a long, drawn-out negotiation process, and we need you to help us send that message to Sobeys.

I Support My Bargaining Committee
In the coming weeks, your solidarity and support will be critical in these negotiations. Stay tuned to your email and to the Sobeys Bargaining Page for updates and actions as we push hard for the deal that you deserve.

As always, if you know of coworkers who aren’t receiving our communications, please have them reach out to us with their full name, workplace name, employee ID, email address, and cell phone number to [email protected] or phone 1-800-661-3708.

In solidarity,

Angela Crosato, Sobeys 4908, Vancouver
Peter Dombrowski, Sobeys 4920, Surrey
Teresa-Lyne Dziedzic, Sobeys 4920, Surrey
Robert Milan, Sobeys 4960, Kelowna
Armin Reyes, Sobeys 4996 Reline Crew
Matt Rose, Sobeys 4974, Cranbrook
Marlene White, Sobeys 4977, Coquitlam
Shiela Scarr, Sobeys 4912, Langley

& UFCW 1518 Staff Negotiators:
Stephen Portman and Ronda Melbourne

Save-On-Foods Bargaining Update May 2

May 2, 2023

Progress Report

Last week we held more bargaining discussions with Save-On-Foods. We made good progress on the non-monetary items listed and agreed to a handful of worker-friendly provisions.

Next, we plan to organize another pharmacy-focused bargaining meeting, where your committee will draw on the experience of frontline pharmacy assistants and regulated techs to improve their contract language, which is in serious need of updates. These workers do highly specialized work that not only requires specialized contract language but also wage improvements in line with their expertise and workloads, which skyrocketed during the pandemic.

Respect Retail Workers Campaign

Save-On-Foods staff deserve respect and recognition and UFCW 1518 is amplifying your voices and calling on the public to work with union members, not against them, to win the working conditions and wages you deserve through the Respect Retail Workers Campaign. Using digital ads and social media outreach, we’re spreading the word that the fight for wages is the fight for affordability, and the battle for a fairer retail industry is the battle for a fairer BC. Check out the campaign website if you haven’t already and share it on your social media!

Your UFCW 1518 representatives and bargaining committee will be visiting Save-On-Foods stores in the coming weeks — keep your eyes out, so you can ask questions and learn more about engagement opportunities and bargaining.

In solidarity,

The Save-On-Foods Bargaining Committee:

Jaime Emerson – Abbotsford – Pharmacy Assistant
Jimbo Grant  – Maple Ridge  – Cross Classified 
Dave Diamond  – Kelowna – Cross Classified 
Erica Jones  – Pitt Meadows – Cross Classified  
Josephine Bustin  – Tsawwassen – Post-2013 Dept Manager and former Restaurant 
Chris Holowka – Prince George – Cross Classified 
Anita Letendre – North Van – Cross Classified 
Marylou Fonda – Ft St James – Cross Classified 
Joel Simmons – Nanaimo – Post 2013 Dept Manager
Katie Guerin – Kamloops – Cross Classified 
David Gutierrez – Surrey – Cross Classified 
(liaison to the committee for Pharmacy discussions) Cheryl Vincenzi – Central Fill 

UFCW 1518 Staff negotiators: Stephen Portman and Ronda Melbourne