30 More Full-time Positions at Superstore

Belonging to Your Union Means Someone Has Your Back

Part of belonging to a union means you have a collective voice to bargain improvements to your terms and conditions of work on matters such as health and safety, quality of life, available hours, wages and benefits, and of course, full-time employment opportunities within your Collective Agreement. It is also important to make sure that the company is following the current Agreement as we also negotiate improvements for a better one.

Your Superstore Collective Agreement is actually three separate Agreements: Edmonton (and area), Calgary (and area), and Provincial (all other locations around the province). Each contract establishes a minimum number of full-time positions through Letter of Understanding #15 for Edmonton and Calgary and Letter of Understanding #13 for the rest of the province. The minimum number of full-time positions is based on a percentage of the total hours that the company pays into the Trusteed Dental Plan, divided by the full-time work week of 37 hours. In the Edmonton and Calgary Agreements it is 16%, and in each of the provincial bargaining units it is 12%. For example, if the company pays 17,500 hours for Edmonton or Calgary, you multiply that number by 16%, then divide it by 37, which works out to a minimum of 76 full-time jobs in the bargaining unit. These calculations are done twice per year, in March and September.

Your union bargaining committee has been staying on top of things and requested those calculations for March 2021. Numbers were provided to your union just last week, and they show that the company is 14 full-time positions short in Calgary and area, 15 positions short in Edmonton and area, and 1 position short in Camrose.

Your union is currently pursuing more information to get this moving. We need to know what stores and departments in Edmonton and Calgary will receive these full-time positions. In Camrose we only need to know what department. We are also pursuing the question of when the positions will be filled and we are insisting they need to be filled without delay.

According to Articles 30.6 and 30.8 in all three Agreements, full-time positions are filled based by department seniority of those who have provided a written request to be placed on file for full-time employment. In Calgary and Edmonton, seniority is citywide and your seniority at Superstore is based on your hours worked (not including class hours, which only determine your wage).

There are more details to work out with the company, most notably what stores/departments will see those new full-time positions, but this is a big, immediate gain for Superstore workers. Of course, we are always working to add more hours and opportunity for better jobs for all Superstore workers in Alberta and will continue to push for that throughout negotiations.

For now, we wanted to update you on the exciting news of the coming additional full-time positions. Oversight and enforcement are key to protecting all the rights you have and we are committed to this pursuit.

In solidarity,

Your Union Negotiating Committee

Posted on: May 20,2021