Safeway Gas Bar Members Ratify New Contract

Edmonton, Alberta – September 30, 2019. UFCW Local 401 members working at Safeway Gas Bars have ratified a new three-year collective agreement by 92%.

Highlights of the new agreement include:

  • A signing bonus for all employees in each year with the top rate employees getting $1000.00 in the first year then $500.00 in the second year and $600.00 in the last year;
  • No blacking out of vacation planners and a proper procedure for booking vacations;
  • All employees can now get the matching RRSP benefit that was only allowed for full-time employees before; and
  • Employees will no longer have to use personal vehicles while performing price checks.

An important achievement at the bargaining table was stopping language proposed by Sobeys that would allow management to have members working alone through the day shifts. Day or night, working alone causes health and safety risks. 

“Congratulations to the committee for their excellent work and dedication,” said union lead negotiator Al Olinek. “This contract represents an important win for our Safeway Gas Bar members.”

UFCW Local 401 is Alberta’s largest private-sector union, representing more than 32,000 union members working in diverse sectors of the Alberta economy, including the food and beverage production, retail, transportation, and agriculture sectors.