On April 1, your union applied for conciliation. The Ministry of Labour appointed a Conciliation Officer who met with both the union and company committees on Tuesday, April 21. His role will be to assist the parties in reaching a settlement.
On Monday, April 20, your bargaining committee met to review and discuss scheduling and local union specific proposals. The committee then met with your employer on April 21, 22 & 23.
At these meetings, the company provided a presentation on Ontario’s retail landscape and the challenges it faces in the retail business with respect to competition for its market share.
Your committee continues to work to secure the best possible deal for you and your co-workers, but we are concerned with the slow progress of talks to date. Your committee faces a number of roadblocks to achieving a fair deal.
As a result, over the next few days your union will consider available options for moving forward. An additional week of negotiations has been agreed to for late May, as we near expiry of the collective agreement on July 1 (Local 175 Ottawa expires April 30, 2015 and Local 175 Fortinos expires July 1, 2016).
In the meantime your local union is preparing to schedule membership meetings in the coming weeks.
Be sure to watch your union bulletin board, website, emails and phone messages during the next couple of weeks for further information.
Your participation at these membership meetings is essential. We need you to be engaged and informed to assist your bargaining committee in reaching a fair deal for you and your co-workers. Please encourage all of your co-workers to attend the scheduled meeting in your area with you.
Together, we can make fairness happen at the bargaining table.
Your unions, UFCW Canada Locals 175 & 633 and 1000A, are participating in solidarity bargaining. This means we have the power and strength of 28,000 members coming together; working at Zehrs, Zehrs Great Food and Superstore, Fortinos, Loblaws Great Food and Superstores across Ontario.
Negotiations will resume on May 5th.
