Press Release: Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy Workers Ratify Historic New Agreement

NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia, Oct. 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Workers at Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy have voted in favour of a historic new contract that will add over 300 full-time jobs, bring needed benefit improvements, and create the highest wage increases at the Sobeys-owned stores in 25 years.

Some key highlights of the new agreement include:

• The highest top rate wage increases at Sobeys stores in 25 years with retroactive pay to April 2023
• Access to 300 new full-time jobs
• An improved wage scale where no worker will be frozen at minimum wage
• A night work premium of an additional $2 per hour on top of wage increases
• No wage cap on Starbucks/Coffee Bar employees
• Significant wage improvements for Pharmacy workers
• Vacation bridging that will enable many workers to capture up to 7 weeks of vacation
  

The agreement came together after 98% of Sobeys members voted in September to authorize a strike. The company initially offered wage increases as low as less than 1%.

"Workers at Safeway and FreshCo Pharmacy stood up together and demanded better from their employer by delivering a 98% strike vote," said UFCW 1518 President Kim Novak. "This agreement is significant not only because it provides the highest wage increases in decades; it offers workers a pathway to more full-time work, a much-improved wage scale, and more flexibility in their schedules."

The new contract came into effect on Sunday, October 22.

UFCW Local 1518 represents more than 26,000 members working in the community health, hospitality, retail, grocery, industrial, and professional sectors across British Columbia.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Eva Prkachin
Press Secretary, UFCW 1518
604.612.1464 | [email protected]