For the last several months, the union negotiating committee has been hard at work at the bargaining table for the reopener of the Save-On-Foods collective agreement. With 40 days at the table, there has been some progress on non-monetary issues; however, when it comes to the issues that our members overwhelmingly told us mattered most to them, the employer is using delay tactics and refusing to take the needs of our members seriously.

“Our committee has been diligently representing the issues that our members told us they wanted address this round of bargaining through the proposals submitted and the hard work done by delegates at the bargaining conference in November,” said UFCW 1518 President Ivan Limpright. “So to hear the disrespect coming from the employer around these issues means we need to seriously consider what comes next.”

While the union committee attempted to work through members’ proposals within an interest-based model, it was clear that a formal document of outstanding issues and proposals needed to be tabled by the union committee to the employer to move things along. Late this week, many of these issues remain outstanding due to the employer’s lack of response and willingness to move on their position.

UFCW 1518 put the employer on notice this morning, April 7, that the union is suspending talks next week until negotiating committee members have time to get into the units and meet with members to provide more detailed updates on bargaining.