Superstore Workers Win Vastly Improved Offer After Less Than 3 Days On Strike ------------------------------------------------- For Immediate Release Wednesday, October 9, 2013 Superstore Workers Win Vastly Improved Offer After Less Than 3 Days On Strike Edmonton – The approximately 8500 Superstore & Liquorstore employees across Alberta ended their strike Tuesday night less than 3 days after their walkout began on October 6th, just after midnight. UFCW 401 President Douglas O’Halloran said the deal reached between Superstore’s parent company, Loblaw, and their workers was a vastly improved offer. “This new contract is one that the employees can be proud of and now includes none of the most troubling concessions that were there when they went on strike”, he said. The improvements in the newly ratified deal include wage increases in every year of the Collective Agreement, along with retroactive pay, as well as money for a brand new sick pay plan for part‐time workers and significant improvements to the full‐time benefits. One of the key victories was the move by the company to agree to severely limit managers and outside vendors from doing work that union members should be doing, which will have the effect of putting more hours back into what has been a steadily decreasing pool of hours for the workers in recent years. O’Holloran says, “We are confident that by warding off much lesser pay scales for new hires, in conjunction with restrictions on managers and outside vendors doing our members’ work, that there will be more hours available to be scheduled to them, and this was a major sticking point in getting this deal.” The union’s negotiator, Tom Hesse, said that this is a clear victory and a time for celebration for the workers. “This offer provides hope for Superstore workers that things can only get better when you stick together and proves the relevance and important need for unions in a healthy democracy”, he said. With corporations aggressively seeking to grow and increase market share, this strike shows that it doesn’t have to be at the expense of the workers. “A balance can be achieved so that both the employer and their employees can be successful”, he added. Workers began reporting for work only hours after the strike ended at approximately 9:30 p.m. last night. MEDIA CONTACT: Christine McMeckan, UFCW Local 401 Communications Representative at 780‐452‐0362 or via e‐mail at [email protected]. ‐30‐
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 17:37:28 +0000
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