Tentative Agreement Reached with Save-On Foods (Thickwood)
Online Voting June 5, 2026
After a long period of collective bargaining, your bargaining team is proud to announce that it has finalized a tentative agreement with the Save-On-Foods Thickwood store in Fort McMurray with substantial improvements to your wages, rights, and benefits.
Information meetings to discuss the details of the agreement will be held on Wednesday, May 27, with an online ratification vote to follow on June 5, 2026.
Your bargaining committee fought hard for substantial wage increases at the bargaining table and, on balance, we believe the new tentative agreement represents the best that we could achieve in this round of bargaining without taking significant labour action, delivering important improvements to wages and workplace rights.
You can download and review the full Memorandum of Settlement here.
The key features of the new tentative agreement include the following:
- Four-year term: September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2027
- Top rate and off-scale wage increases of 4%, 2%, 2% (2024, 2025, 2026)
- Retroactive payments for hours worked from Sept 1, 2025
- $1.00/hr increase to the top step in the grid, which will now be $21.60
- Wage grid compressed from 20 steps to 15 steps, allowing employees to reach top rate at 7,001 hrs (2,500hrs earlier)
- Grid adjustment language in the event of a minimum wage increase; bumps steps from minimum wage by at least $0.05/hr on each step until reaching a pre-existing step that is greater than $0.05
- Opportunity for part-time employees to work more than 28 hours per week
- Addition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to Paid General Holidays
- Introduction of Gynaecological Leave Days. Employees are entitled to 12 unpaid days of leave each year for issues related to their menstrual cycle or gynaecological health. These hours cannot be banked, but do not require a medical note, and do not reduce your sick time
- Accommodation rights for employees with language barriers, including new immigrants
- Rights for time off to attend immigration appointments and citizenship ceremonies
- Increased employer funding for UFCW Education and Training ($0.09/hr) and UFCW PT Health and Welfare benefits ($0.24/hr)
- Simplified and clarified language throughout the agreement
- Elimination of mandatory discipline for time recording infractions (was 3 days suspension for 1st offence & 2 weeks for 2nd offence)
- No need for employer agreement on bulletin board postings
- Reduction in “sunset clause” on prior discipline from two years to one year
- Clearly lists UFCW PT Health and Wellness Trust benefits entitlement in the CBA – was absent before
- Language seeking to expedite arbitrations by having decisions returned within 14 days after a hearing
The bargaining committee made some small concessions in exchange for these improvements, including:
- Reduced minimum weekly hours for PT employee to 8 from 12. We reviewed schedules to determine that most employees are receiving much more than 12 hours weekly, reducing concerns on this point.
- Employer retains right to reference discipline older than 1 year for very serious cases (e.g. harassment, bullying)
- Employer may rely on customer complaints for discipline (we have warned the company that we will require them to call customers as witnesses if they wish to rely on their accounts for discipline)
- Removes the premium paid for employees who are asked to perform work outside their regular duties for more than 15 minutes
The bargaining committee is extremely proud of what we have accomplished in this round, and looks forward to discussing the tentative agreement with you via Zoom meetings at 10 am and 6 pm this Wednesday, May 27.
The links for the meetings can be found below.
Morning Save-On-Foods Ratification Info Meeting
Time: May 27, 2026 10:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86314795318
Evening Save-On-Foods Ratification Info Meeting
Time: May 27, 2026 06:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81596388437
As always, whether this collective agreement meets your needs is up to you!
We look forward to seeing you Wednesday!
In solidarity,
Your Thickwood Bargaining Committee
UFCW Local 401
Posted on: May 26,2026