CRW and Commissary Bargaining: Calling in the Referee
June 1st, 2022
Your bargaining committee met with your employer, Sobeys, two weeks ago.
We have dates set to meet with them again in the first week of September and hope that they will come to the table with a different attitude and more of a willingness to bargain in good faith. Your committee was willing and wanted to meet sooner than that, but those were the earliest dates the company gave us that worked.
The company needs help to realize how vital the non-monetary items that remain are before we can start talking about a financial package. So, for that reason, your committee decided to apply to the Alberta government to appoint a mediator to assist us in September.
Your committee is confident that although a mediator’s recommendations are not binding in Alberta, a third party will help us in our discussions and motivate your employer to act reasonably.
Mediation should also speed up negotiations because before any union can take a strike vote, they must go through the mediation process by law in Alberta.
The company knows this, which will also motivate them to bargain properly.
No one ever wants a strike, but as union members, that is the power and leverage you have to bargain for the best deal for yourself and your family.
As things progress, we shall keep you informed, including more information about mediation.
Stand together, stand strong, and we shall be victorious!
In solidarity,
Your bargaining committee,
Melchor Amurao, Elias Wisdom Kimura, Majock Anei Ayom, Kelsang Wangchuk, Alejandro Gutteriez, Carmelo Cabacungan, Kelly Joe Nicholson, Sam Ayo, Jeff Ible, and David B. Smith.
Posted on: June 01,2022