Superstore grocery and commercial workers in British Columbia have voted not to strike.
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Local 247) counted the ballots from employees and delivered the news on Friday afternoon.
“With ballots counted today, the new agreement has been accepted by a margin of 58 per cent,” says Ximena Mastrodonato, engagement and education coordinator for UFCW Local 247.
Nearly 10,000 workers and members of UFCW Local 247 were asked to start voting on the long weekend.
If workers voted in favour of a strike, it would have affected 28 Superstore locations and three distribution warehouses in British Columbia.
An initial offer was rejected by union members back in April, and they voted in favour (97 per cent) of a strike in May. After this decision, officials presented a new offer, and UFCW members voted on whether to accept it or issue a strike notice.
Mastrodonato says the decision was emailed to the members and communicated to those involved.
“Now begins the work of implementing and enforcing the new agreement and supporting all members going forward,” she says.“We will be informing Loblaw of the results, and we will be starting the work on implementing the accepted changes.”
UFCW Canada has 250,000 members across the country and represents workers in food production, warehousing and retail industries across B.C.
