Last week, Local 401 of the United Food & Commercial Workers published an update on their website regarding contract negotiations for Fort McMurray grocery workers.
These 75 or so workers are employed by the BC-based Pattison Food Group Ltd. at their Save-On-Foods Thickwood location.
They have been waiting for over two years for new collective agreements, ever since their last ones (here and here) expired in August 2023.
Bargaining teams for the workers and the employer met twice last month and once earlier this month to exchange proposals and negotiate monetary items.
The bargaining team for the workers—which includes representation from the bakery, meat, and front-end departments—has proposed a 10% wage increase in every year of the new agreement.
Their last contract was for 3 years, so if the new one ends up being for 3 years, this would be a combined increase of 30%, or 33.10% if we account for compound increases.
Now, a 30% wage increase might seem like a lot, but the workers’ bargaining team shared—both in their update and in negotiations—that the living wage, according to the Alberta Living Wage Network, is $23 an hour in Fort McMurray.
According to their previous collective agreements, most of the positions covered by these agreements were making less than $20 an hour, let alone $23 an hour.
A 30% increase on $15 an hour, for example, would be $19.97 by the end of a 3-year contract. Those making $18 an hour now would be making $23.96 an hour during the same period, barely coming above the living wage. And that is assuming the living wage does not increase before this theoretical contract expired.
So, how did Save-On-Foods respond?
They offered wage increases to workers who are at the top of their wage scale. These workers would receive a single 1.5% wage increase, and it would not be retroactive, which means no wage increases in 2024 and 2025. Everyone else would not get an increase to their base salary.
That being, Save-On-Foods has offered two lump sum payments of 1.5% each. This means that each worker would get an additional 1.5% of their base salary.
Something to keep in mind with lump sum payments, however, is that while they are extra money, they do not increase your base salary.
If a worker makes $30,000 a year, a 1.5% lump sum payment would result in a total of $30,450. But the base salary is still $30,000, not $30,450, so when the second 1.5% lump sum payment comes in, it is based on the $30,000 again.
Lump sum payments are better than nothing, but they still keep worker wages behind inflation.
There is a huge gap between 30% (33.10%) wage increases for all workers and a 1.5% increase for just the top rate workers, so someone will have to give before reaching a tentative agreement.
The workers’ bargaining team also proposed adding National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to the list of paid holidays, which Save-On-Foods has accepted.
They also asked for 2 floating holidays, which would allow workers to observe alternate religious or culturally significant celebrations in lieu of a named general holiday, such Diwali in place of Christmas, for example.
Currently, such workers have to take unpaid leave or use up their vacation time to observe these holidays.
One other significant proposal presented by the workers’ bargaining team was 1 gynaecological health day each month for “health issues specific to women”. Workers who need to take off time due to menstrual issues, for example, currently must use their sick time, meaning that some workers could end up with no sick days left for when they are dealing with an actual illness.
The two parties will resume bargaining next month.
