Safeway Employees Vote to Strike as Customer Support Grows…
Safeway employees in some cities support a strike by a margin in excess of 95%!!!
EDMONTON — Safeway employees across Alberta have voted decisively to authorize a strike if a fair collective agreement cannot be reached. The strike vote sends a clear message to Sobeys that Safeway workers are done waiting for a fair deal and expect a meaningful offer when they return to bargaining next week.
Ballots were counted, and final calculations were done today. In Calgary, 87% voted in favour of striking. In Edmonton, the number exceeded 90%. Some other Alberta cities saw strike votes in excess of 95%.
Below are the strike vote results for what Labour Relations experts call “bargaining units”. These are the vote tallies for the different areas in Safeway stores where employees work and are covered by union contracts.
Retail: 86% in favour
Meat South: 93% in favour
Meat North: 90% in favour
For workers, the dispute is about more than a collective agreement. They are seeking wages that keep pace with inflation, better benefits, improved job security, safer stores and respect for the work they do. Many say they are struggling to afford the groceries they help sell — and that isn’t right.
“Our members have spoken clearly,” said UFCW Local 401 President Thomas Hesse. “They want a fair agreement that allows them to support their families and recognizes the value of the work they do every day. They want to be able to afford the food they stock on the shelves, to work in safe stores and to know they have job security moving forward.”
Customers Are Ready to Take Their Business Elsewhere
UFCW Local 401’s initial review of customer sentiment should be a serious warning to Sobeys.
Nearly 10,000 customers have already shown their support for grocery workers through the union’s Fair Checkout campaign website, demonstrating that concern over the treatment of Safeway workers extends well beyond the workplace.
That support is reinforced by Environics polling the union conducted in May. A strong majority of customers surveyed said they would not cross a picket line. More than half believe grocery store workers are underpaid, while an overwhelming majority blame Canadian grocers for high grocery prices.
And those numbers were recorded before the union has even hit the streets.
The union expects that support to translate into real changes in where people shop. Customers should start considering alternatives to Safeway for their regular grocery trips. If workers are forced onto the picket line, maintaining normal store operations could become increasingly difficult. The union also expects Safeway could face pressure to raise prices or increase costs to customers as it works to offset losses associated with a strike.
“If Sobeys forces Safeway workers onto the picket line, customers are going to notice the difference,” said UFCW Local 401 President Thomas Hesse. “They could be walking into empty shelves, older produce, longer checkout lines and higher prices. At that point, customers have a choice: they can take their grocery business somewhere else. We haven’t even hit the streets yet, and they’re already showing us they’re prepared to stand with these workers.”
For Sobeys, the risk extends beyond the immediate disruption of a strike. Customers who move their shopping elsewhere may establish new habits and take their business with them long after the dispute is over.
“Our members don’t want to strike. They want to be at work serving their customers,” said UFCW Local 401 President Thomas Hesse. “But Sobeys needs to understand what is at stake. When customers see angry workers standing outside their local Safeway, we expect many of them will stay away.”
The union says that, amid growing public concern over expensive grocery bills, corporate profits and affordability, the potential impact could extend well beyond Safeway shoppers. Families across Alberta are already feeling the pressure at the checkout, while grocery workers across the industry face many of the same concerns about wages, job security and working conditions. What happens at Safeway, the union argues, could resonate far beyond a single employer and strike a nerve with workers and consumers across the province.
A Safeway strike could therefore become a much broader consumer and labour action, bringing together grocery workers and families across Alberta. There is no doubt other frustrated Alberta workers could join what could become the Great Grocery Strike of 2026.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union would invite teachers, government employees, flight attendants, nurses, and many others to join the picket line.
What Workers Have Faced
This strike vote follows a long-running fight over wages, job security and respect.
In 2024, approximately half of Safeway workers received 10% in wage increases — 5% in 2023 and another 5% in 2024 — following bargaining efforts by UFCW Local 401.
Sobeys subsequently clawed 6.5% of those increases back following a judicial review. UFCW Local 401 challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal and successfully restored the wage increases. Sobeys has since sought leave to challenge that decision at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Sobeys has also indicated the possibility of converting or closing Safeway stores in the coming months and years. Uncertainty about the future of their stores has only added to the fear and frustration workers are feeling.
For Safeway workers, bargaining is about being able to count on Sobeys providing them with wages that help them to make ends meet each month and committing to keeping their stores open.
After almost a year of negotiations reached an impasse, UFCW Local 401 sought mediation. Mediation ended without a tentative agreement. The Union Bargaining Committee will return to meetings with Sobeys September 15–17, 2026, in Edmonton and remains committed to reaching a negotiated settlement.
Posted on: September 12,2026