President Hesse writes to Safeway store managers…

Sobeys starts to panic?

Local 401 has been polling and speaking to our members every single day.

Safeway employees are intelligent and should never be underestimated. Safeway workers are carefully scrutinizing the Company’s offer and weighing their options.

Not surprisingly, Safeway members continue to tell their union that they are very anxious about the next four years. Many do not believe that Safeway’s offer meets their economic needs.

We are hearing the words “vote no” from a great many Safeway workers.

Safeway bosses are most certainly hearing the same thing. Their response seems a bit panicked, don’t you think?

Your union has been told that store managers will make efforts to have captive audience meetings with employees to do a hard sell on the Company’s offer.

The offer is good for the Company, and they want you to believe that it is good for you.

As a result, President Thomas Hesse wrote to store managers asking them not to do the dirty work of the billionaire Sobeys Family.

The Sobeys Family, who Maclean’s has estimated to be worth nearly $4.5 billion.

Union representatives have conflicts with store managers from time to time. That’s just the way it is.

But President Hesse wrote to managers today to offer a sensible appeal. Hesse asked them not to get caught up in Sobeys’ threats and manipulations. Hesse pointed out that doing so was bad for morale and would undermine trust in the stores.

Speaking of trust, today a senior Sobeys official from Ontario sent a letter to Safeway employees. His name is Andrew Follwell.

You won’t know that name. That’s because Follwell is an absentee company official who has no direct connection to the culture and well-being of employees in Alberta stores.

Follwell is most certainly doing the bidding of the Sobeys Family.

Click here to see President Hesse’s response to Mr. Follwell.

In their communication, the Company strangely suggests that union ads might be causing a cut in hours. The truth is that the Company has refused to bargain contract language that would increase your hours to offset the natural decline in business that happens every year after Christmas.

But did they mention that? No, they did not.

In a recent poll, 95% of Safeway employees asked their union to bring their story to the public. Naturally, the Company is unhappy about our television ad. They don’t want the public to hear your story.

But the ad is both true and fair comment. It mirrors what both employees and customers have been saying for some time now. One article about the affordability crisis described complaints about grocery prices as “kitchen talk” in which everyone engages.

Further, the ad does not call for a boycott. Instead, it asks for the help of customers.

Many customers are connecting with us through our Fair Checkout website. They support you and want to help you.

Customers are not staying away from your stores. And we are asking them to greet you compassionately and show support when they shop.

In fact, if Safeway customers connect with us through Fair Checkout, they are entered into a contest to win free groceries. Not only are we not discouraging shopping at Safeway, the gift cards that we will be giving out are Safeway gift cards!

During this cyclical slowdown in the shopping season, we are both encouraging customers to visit Safeway stores and encouraging Safeway to do right by them — and their employees.

Fair checkout benefits everyone. Even Sobeys, if they were to stop and think about it.

There is a national boycott of Loblaws stores. But there is no such boycott of Sobeys. At least not yet…

Your union would like to continue avoiding that scenario. But that ball is in Sobeys’ court.

Read President Hesse’s letter to store managers below:

Posted on: January 08,2025