[news] Safeway clerks say yes to new five-year contract

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-----Forwarded Message-----
From: shniad at sfu.ca
To: shniad at sfu.ca
Subject: [pr-x] Safeway clerks say yes to new five-year contract
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:40:51 -0700


Vancouver Sun	September 26, 2003

Safeway clerks say yes to new five-year contract
 
Gerry Bellett

Safeway's 4,700 clerks and cashiers employed at 49 Lower Mainland stores
have voted 70 per cent to accept a new five-year contract that gives them a
35-cent-an-hour wage increase for each of the final four years of the
contract.

The settlement also provides a signing bonus that ranges from $150 to $1,000
an employee depending on seniority.

"We have mixed feelings about the settlement," said Tom Cameron-Fawkes, an
official with Local 1518 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

"We are not happy with the wage and benefit increases we got, but when you
look at where we were eight months ago -- with the company trying to
obliterate the collective agreement -- we are happy we've prevented that
from happening," said Cameron-Fawkes.

The settlement came after a series of rotating strikes by union members, who
had threatened to stage a full strike last Sunday if an acceptable contract
offer wasn't received.

Two other UFCWU locals -- representing bakers, deli workers and meat cutters
-- are still negotiating with the company.

The deli and meat cutters are threatening to strike Oct. 4 if a new contract
hasn't been settled by then.

Cameron-Fawkes said the union was disappointed it couldn't get Safeway to
agree to rescind an agreement made in 1997 whereby two tiers of employees
were created -- pre-1997 employees who kept wages at 1997 levels, and Clerk
Two employees hired after the agreement was signed who received reduced
wages.

"That agreement was brought in in 1997 to help Safeway because the company
was having severe financial problems. They needed to renovate old stores and
buy new ones and in return for job security we agreed to set in place the
Clerk Two system.

"We were there for them and we felt this time they could come through for us
but the Americans said no way," said Cameron-Fawkes.

In the first year of the new contract, wages for top scale pre-1997
employees will be raised from $21 to $21.35.

Tier Two Clerks will go from $10.50 to $10.85 an hour.

In 1997 a Tier Two employee was paid $8.50 an hour while senior pre-1997
employees received $18.95 an hour based on a complicated hours-of-work
formula.

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=E6EF6D89-A79E-43A5
-8DCB-52641B98D271

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