Save on Foods: Working for a Unified Agreement

Your bargaining committee met with Company officials last month to start bringing together the Retail and Meat and Deli Collective Agreements into one new and improved collective agreement for all of you! While this process will take time, it’s worth it to ensure that all our members are under a unified agreement that addresses all of your needs.

Having a single agreement means a single set of improvements and benefits for all members from any further agreements, regardless of the department you work in. This ensures equitable treatment for everyone, makes for more efficient bargaining going forward, and it guarantees that your employer will not be able to pit different departments against each other during future negotiations.

As President Thomas Hesse of UFCW Local 401 says: “It is crucially important to have a single collective agreement covering a workplace wherever possible. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in the case of Sobey’s at Safeway, employers can try to divide workers from each other by offering agreements that benefit one class or department of employee while leaving others behind.”

“We need to be vigilant against that kind of divide-and-conquer strategy,” agrees Local 401’s Secretary Treasurer Richelle Stewart. “When employees have a single contract with their employer and all enjoy the same rights and benefits, they can come together to support each other that much more effectively when bargaining happens.”

So far, we’ve met for two days in January and will meet again in May. Early discussions have been positive, with both parties able to agree on good language for a new, merged document. We’re hopeful that we’ll reach a unified agreement with no more language excluding Retail or the Meat and Deli department. 

When you see your committee members around the store, be sure to thank them for their hard work so far!

Posted on: February 20,2025