Safeway workers in Alberta serve strike notice to Sobeys Inc.

The United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 401 has served strike notice to Sobeys Inc., which will come into effect Oct. 7.

If a deal cannot be reached, Safeway workers across Alberta will go on strike as of 12:01 a.m. that day, the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving weekend.

The notice follows a strong strike mandate voted by Safeway workers last week, and was formally delivered by two Safeway employees. 

“I was honoured to accompany these members at the bargaining table and assist them in their efforts to give strike notice to Sobeys,” said UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse, explaining that regardless of if a worker had been with the company for 50 years or recently started, the expectation was the same: “That the company they work for should negotiate a fair deal with the people who make its stores successful.”

“Safeway workers' asks are not complicated or controversial. They are looking for fair wages, better benefits, job security, safer stores and respect in the workplace,” said UFCW.

Although strike notice has been served, UFCW Local 401 remains hopeful this week's round of bargaining meetings can produce a fair offer to Safeway workers that will avoid a strike. 

If a strike does occur on Oct. 7, it would begin immediately before the Thanksgiving weekend, one of the busiest grocery-shopping periods of the year. Workers do not want a strike, UFCW says, but feel this is the last option in order to receive an offer from the company. 

“If Sobeys forces Safeway workers onto picket lines, customers are going to notice the difference,” continued Hesse. “These members are the people who stock the shelves, serve customers, work the checkouts and keep these stores running. They want to be at work serving their communities. They want Sobeys to give them a reason to stay at work.”

UFCW is the province's largest private-sector union, representing more than 32,000 workers.