Winners Apparel, Saskatoon (Circle Drive Location)

Winners Ratifies Closure Agreement

 

Winners employees at the River City Mall location in Saskatoon have ratified a Closure Agreement.  The agreement guarantees all employees hours of work until the store closes on May 14^th, 2005. 

 

All employees will be paid full wages until July 2^nd.  In addition, they will receive one week of pay for each year of service (pro-rated for partial weeks) and a retention bonus of $600 for full time employees and $400 for part-time.

 

The union is working with the employees to ensure that they receive all benefits and monies owed them and are informing them of potential opportunities with other Local 1400 employers.

 

 

Winners Closes Unionized Store

 

On March 29, Winners announced the closure of its River City Mall (Circle Drive) location in Saskatoon.  Local 1400 received certification to represent these workers last summer; negotiations for a First Collective Agreement had been ongoing for a number of months.

 

The company has told the employees that the closure was due to store economics and the decision of the company to go in a different direction meaning larger stores and a superstore concept with side by side Winners and Home Sense stores.

 

The company refused to answer when the media questioned them if they were closing because the store is unionized.

 

The union’s focus has now switched to negotiating a closure agreement as required by the Trade Union act and insuring that our member’s rights are protected.

 

 

From Negotiations report March, 2005

 

The first meetings with this Employer took place on October 25 & 26, 2004.  From a look at the company’s proposals, this first agreement negotiation also appears headed for First Agreement Arbitration.  We met again on November 25 & 26, 2004 but only the most minimal of progress was made.  As a result, the union applied for First Agreement Arbitration assistance.  We met again on January 13 & 14, 2005 and again only modest progress was made.  The company cancelled all four bargaining dates in February.

 

From Negotiations report dated November 26, 2004

 

The first meetings with this Employer took place on October 25 & 26, 2004.  We met again on November 25 & 26 some progress has been made.  Further dates are set for January 13 & 14, 2005.

 

Report updated October 29, 2004

 

The first meetings with this Employer took place on October 25 & 26, 2004.  From a look at the Company=s proposals, this first agreement negotiations also appears headed for first agreement arbitration.  The Union has applied to the Department of Labour for the appointment of a conciliation officer.