United Food & Commercial Workers Union
Local 1400



Negotiate 2008! Bargaining Update - April 25, 2008
Read the April 25, 2008 update.


Negotiate 2008! Bargaining Update - April 11, 2008
Read the April 11, 2008 update.


Negotiate 2008! Bargaining Update - March 7, 2008
Read the March 7, 2008 update.


February 27, 2008
At the meeting that was held on Monday, February 25th, 2008, between President Paul Meinema, Negotiation Representative Don Logan and Westfair Foods representatives Dave Graff and Brad Denluck, it was agreed that all Table Committees will bargain at the same table. There may however be issues that arise from time to time that will need to be dealt with as individual committees.

The Table Committee members will be meeting on Monday, March 3rd at 10:00 am at the Local 1400 office (Saskatoon) for a pre-bargaining meeting.  Bargaining will commence on Tuesday, March 4th with the company.

Also confirmed at that meeting, the next set of bargaining dates are March 18, 19 & 20, 2008.

February 15, 2008
Notice to bargain letters have been sent to the company and the union has recently received confirmation of upcoming bargaining dates from the company. The dates set are March 4th to 7th, 2008 and in the week of March 17th.

The union is still in discussion with the company as to if all committees will be at the same table or not.  President Paul Meinema will be meeting with the company on February 25th to find a resolve to this ongoing issue.

View Notice to Bargain Letters.

Negotiate 2008! Bargaining Conference
- be sure to check more pictures under the Photo Gallery tab.

Forty six of the local’s members representing workers at Extra Foods, Real Canadian Wholesale Clubs (RCWC) and Superstores across the province attended the Negotiate 2008! Bargaining Conference held October 23 to 25, 2007. These retail members were elected by their co-workers as delegates to this conference in meetings that were held in June.

During the three-day conference, delegates heard from a variety of guest speakers:

UFCW National President Wayne Hanley commended the delegates on this meeting and the importance of it, reminding us to not only use the tried and true approaches of bargaining and communicating with our membership, but to be innovative as well. He spoke about the Solidarity Pact made by three locals in Ontario, encompassing 30,000 members, and how by sticking together, this group received the best deal for all, ensuring no one was left out. They achieved closer parity within the Collective Agreements of the three locals, ensuring that the changes being implemented by the company would not divide the membership. He also reminded all delegates that the local and UFCW Canada will be there supporting our membership throughout these negotiations.

Assistant to the National President for Western Canada, Nancy Quiring, gave us an overall picture of how other locals bargaining with Westfair Foods/Loblaws have faired, what some of their issues have been, the successful communication techniques locals have used, which locals are presently in negotiations and those that are upcoming.

Premier Lorne Calvert took the time out of his schedule to speak with us about the relationship that he has enjoyed with the members of the local and the importance of government and labour working together, benefiting all workers. He spoke about how the people of Saskatchewan don’t want to become like any other province; that we are unique and will instead proudly lead the other provinces. He also wished us well in our conference and upcoming negotiations.

Honourable David Forbes, Minister of Labour, was also able to stop in and speak with us. He gave a presentation on the accomplishments in the last four years within the Department of Labour, such as improvements to the personal harassment language in the Occupational Health & Safety Act, and the new First Contract Legislation.

Representing the Western Division of Loblaw Companies and Westfair Foods, VP of Labour Relations Dave Graf and Vice President for Superstores and Extra Foods Marlin Krieger spoke to the delegates about the new structure that Loblaw Companies have begun implementing and the company’s “get back to the basics” plan. They recognized the company has had problems, they intend on moving forward. This was the first time that our local has invited senior management to speak to the Bargaining Committee; with all of the restructuring taking place within Westfair and in the stores, the local felt it would be beneficial for the delegates to hear, first hand, the intentions of the company for its future.

We also heard from President Meinema who thanked all of the delegates for agreeing to take on important roles in these upcoming negotiations. President Meinema said that the membership will be very involved in this round of bargaining and that he has heard overwhelmingly that this is what the membership wants – to be more involved overall in a meaningful and productive way. He also reminded us that by working together, it is possible to achieve the best Collective Agreement for all of the retail Westfair membership. He left us with three key words to remember and move forward with: solidarity, purpose, and action.

Delegates had the opportunity to break into workshops and have in-depth discussions about the proposals that had been submitted to that date and talk about how they would affect the four types of workplaces represented. In other workshops we looked at an overview of the collective bargaining process and had in-depth discussion on communicating throughout these negotiations. Delegates also elected the members that will represent them on the Table Bargaining Committee.

Your Negotiate 2008! Table Committee members are:

Extra Foods Rural Stores - Humboldt, Tisdale, Kindersley, Melfort, Meadow Lake & Nipawin

pictured left to right:

  • Heather Fulmes
  • Lori Court
  • Debbie Levesque
  • View Rural Extra Foods Posting

     

     

    Extra Foods Urban Stores - Regina, Saskatoon & Melville

    pictured left to right:

  • Dana Haga
  • Twila Forsyth
  • Calvin Smith
  • Deborah Goodwin
  • Pat Schermann
  • View Urban Extra Foods Posting

     

     

    Real Canadian Wholesale Club (RCWC) - Estevan, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current & Weyburn

    pictured left to right:

  • Kandus Johnson
  • Ruby Piepgrass
  • Phyllis Love
  • View Real Canadian Wholesale Club (RCWC) Posting

     

     

     

    Real Canadian Superstore - Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina (North and East stores), Saskatoon (8th Street & Confederation Drive stores), & Yorkton

    pictured left to right (back row):

  • Laurie Temple
  • Jim Kutnikoff
  • Kathy Erickson
  • Judy Hrycuik
    pictured left to right (front row):
  • Lana Mills
  • Karen Greaves
  • Verna Peepeetch
  • View Superstore Posting

     

    The delegates, other members and guests also enjoyed a Fun Casino Night hosted by the Women’s and Aboriginal Committees on the Wednesday evening. Please see the Women’s Committee page for more information and pictures of this event.

    Preparations are being finalized for the upcoming Westfair Retail members Negotiate 2008! Bargaining Conference which will be held at the Heritage Inn in Saskatoon on October 23rd to 25th, 2007. Confirmation and further information have been mailed out to all delegates to this conference.

    REMINDER - The deadline for submission of proposals is October 15th, 2007. Click on the icon link above to submit your ideas for your next contract.

    Meetings were held throughout the province during the month of June for all UFCW Local 1400 members employed at all Extra Foods, Real Canadian Wholesale Club and Real Canadian Superstores regarding your upcoming negotiations - Negotiate 2008!  The agenda and discussions at those meetings was as follows:

    Agenda for all meetings:

    ·Planning Update

    ·Proposal Discussions

    ·Presentation on the National Defence Fund (NDF)

    ·Negotiate 2008! Conference Election – members that are elected at these June meetings will be the delegates attending the Westfair Negotiate 2008! Bargaining Conference on October 23rd to 25th, 2007.

    The following was the Nomination and Election Procedure to be part of the the Negotiate 2008! Committee:

    1.  You must be nominated to the Negotiate 2008! Committee by another UFCW Local 1400 member from within your workplace unit, at one of the scheduled June meetings listed.

    2.  You must be present at a meeting, or indicate by signed letter that you accept your nomination to the Negotiate 2008! Committee and be a UFCW Local 1400 member in a workplace unit you have been nominated in.

    3.  Voting on positions to the Negotiate 2008! Committee will be by ballet, if required.

    4.  Ratio for positions on the Negotiate 2008! Committee:  One (1) member per 100 members (or portion thereof), elected to the   Committee per store.

    5.  Members elected to attend the Negotiate 2008! Conference will choose the Bargaining Committee and will be assigned various other Committee duties.

    If you have any questions on the meetings, nomination or elections to the Negotiate 2008! Committee, please contact Norm Neault, Secretary Treasurer at 306.384.5787 or toll free 1.800.274.4036

    At these meetings, members were elected to the Negotiate 2008! Conference which will be held on October 23rd to 25th, 2007.  Congratulations to the members that have been elected.  Further information and updates will be posted as they become available. 

    A Message to all Retail Westfair Foods Members from President Paul Meinema
    At the 2006 Shop Steward Conference, I held a discussion with all of the Westfair Stewards in attendance about the upcoming negotiations and the local’s planning process to prepare the membership and ensure that they are ready for Collective Bargaining with this employer.

    The three retail agreements covering our members that work for Westfair Foods will be up for renewal in March 2008. The members who work at the urban and rural Extra Foods, the Superstores and the Real Canadian Wholesale Clubs in 34 workplaces throughout Saskatchewan represent almost half of the Local 1400 membership. There are two Extra Foods agreements, urban and rural, and one agreement covering Superstores and Wholesale Clubs.

    In other provinces the agreements that have been reached have not been easy to achieve.  In negotiating agreements for some Extra Foods stores has meant going on strike or being locked out.  In Ontario, three locals representing members who work for Loblaws-owned companies (Loblaws is the parent company of Westfair Foods) signed a solidarity pack, vowing that they would all settle, or strike, together. This pact meant that 30,000 workers stuck together. Each group held out for some things that they might have dropped had they been negotiating only for their specific members, because the issue was important to other members. They all signed better agreements because they stuck together.

    Preparations for our membership have begun. In the letter that was included with your calendar we asked you to start thinking of what you would like to see in your next Collective Agreement and requested your updated address information and your email addresses. With more of our membership looking online for their news, we will be using our website, including a separate section dedicated to Westfair employees, and emails to communicate with the members affected by these negotiations.

    Over the next months, we will ask you to turn in your contract proposal ideas.  We will be accepting proposals in writing, via the website, email, fax or turned in to your Shop Steward or Representative. The deadline for proposals will be October 15 2007.

    From Sunday, June 3 to Wednesday, June 13, 2007, there will be meetings held with members of all Westfair units.  Please make every effort to attend the meeting in your area.  At these meetings, members from each unit will elect delegates to represent them at a conference that will be held Contract proposals may also be turned in at these meetings.

    Then, at the Westfair Bargaining Conference in October, delegates will be elected to one of three committees to represent their fellow members in the Bargaining, Picket Line or Communication areas.  They will prioritize the proposals that have been received from the membership and develop a communication strategy for negotiations.

    These are only the first steps of the planning and preparation that will take place.  Although we are in the initial phase of preparations, we will be fully prepared for bargaining early in 2008.

    I welcome input from all members.  Please do not hesitate to call me or your Representative with any questions or comments you may have and remember to attend all meetings that are held in your area. Talk to your co-workers and ensure that they are part of this process, too. No matter if you work four hours a week or full-time, if you work in an Extra Foods, a RCWC or a Superstore, by being prepared and standing in solidarity, you can help send a message to this employer that we too will stick together and be ready for Negotiate 2008!