Photo: contributed
Safeway employees have a tough decision to make in the next few weeks.
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1518 secretary-treasurer Patrick Johnson says closing Safeway stores in Kelowna’s Dilworth area and downtown Vernon and reopening them as FreshCo locations will have a major impact on current employees.
Sobeys announced this week it would be converting six Safeway stores in smaller BC communities to FreshCo discount grocery stores.
“It’s a drastically different collective agreement,” says Johnson, adding the Safeway agreement is far superior to FreshCo’s. “It certainly does have a big impact on the members and their families.”
Employees have 30 days to decide whether they’ll transfer to FreshCo or take a voluntary buyout.
Most employees who stay on with FreshCo will take a hefty pay cut. Only 25% of employees will be able to keep their full benefits and wages, a decision that will come down to seniority, says Johnson.
The next step for those affected is talking with their families about what to do.
Stores in the Lower Mainland have converted, but it’s had less of an impact in bigger cities than it has in smaller communities. Employees in more populated areas have more options to transfer to other Safeway stores nearby.
Johnson says there’s no sense yet of when the FreshCo stores will open after the Safeway stores close.
The conversion is part of a western Canadian plan that was first announced in 2017 by parent company Empire Co. Ltd.
Impacted stores are also in 100 Mile House, Powell River, Kamloops and Williams Lake.
The first three FreshCo stores in B.C. opened their doors in May and are currently operating in former Safeway locations in Mission and Richmond.
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