Local 401 Negotiations Update Sofina Foods Inc.

Negotiations Update Sofina Foods Inc.: Talks Breaks Off – Union Applies for Government Mediation

As you know, your union is currently involved in negotiations with your employer for a renewal to your Union Contract.

Your union Bargaining Committee commenced meetings with your employer, Sofina Foods Inc., back in May of this year and we have had several meetings since that time. Bargaining to this point has gone well enough and in fact, the parties, your union and the company, have managed to move through the majority of non-monetary issues up for negotiation. On October 14 and 15, we began discussions on the monetary (or money issues) such as wages and benefits. Unfortunately, these most recent discussions have not gone as well.

To this point, the parties have not been able to come to an agreement on the monetary items, and your union Bargaining Committee has decided that the best option at this point is to apply for Government Appointed Mediation. This application was sent to the government on October 16, 2015.

The next time we meet with your employer for negotiations, the government will send a Mediator to the table in an effort to assist the two sides, and ultimately, to reach an agreement on a new Union Contract.
Mediation is often a productive process and we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to come away from those meetings with an approved offer for you to vote upon. In the event that we are not successful in achieving this goal, we will be scheduling a meeting with you, the employees of Sofina, in order to discuss the next steps of the process.

Please watch your union bulletin board for information regarding this meeting and anything else related to negotiations.

As always, should you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Union Representative, Jeff Ible.

In solidarity,

Your UFCW Local 401 Bargaining Committee

Posted on: October 19,2015