From left to right: Teryl Burry, Scott Evans, Dustin Dyck, Clayton Miller, Shaundel Rich, and Trina Barlow. PHOTO BY: Chris Banting
by Tom Price
Workers in Regina, Saskatchewan are holding a line in the snow in the sixth month of a strike against the second largest and most anti-union grocery chain in Canada. The dispute, at one of a small number of unionized Sobeys stores, is being bitterly fought—the union needs the foothold this store represents and the company needs to break the strike at this one franchise to stave off union drives at other stores. The whole labor movement has a stake in this one because if the union is busted there, other employers will likely use it to lower wages everywhere as grocery stores in the U.S. experienced in the last couple of years.
The 100 members of the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Union (RWDSU) Local 454, an affiliate of ILWU Canada, walked out last Sept. 11 over pay equality, pensions, sick leave and the high cost of insurance co-pays. They had been without a contract for more than nine months before walking.
RWDSU battled hard for recognition at the Regina store in 1999 and employers signed the first contract in 2002. Since then, the franchise owners have attempted several de-certification actions and have been found by the provincial government to have committed numerous unfair labor practices.
Picket Line Captain Susan Butson drives the union’s bus out to the picket line at 7 a.m. each day. The "Strike Mobile," a converted school bus with the union’s logo painted on it, is equipped with heaters, food and an electric generator.
"This strike has really united the group," Butson said. "We have people from 15 to 60 years old on the line everyday. Everybody sees they can stand up to these employers."
And they know they are not alone.
"We have gotten support from other unions," RWDSU Secretary-Treasurer Chris Banting said. "Community support has been very good, except for a small few who take a perverse pleasure in shopping in a store where the shelves aren’t stocked, the produce is wilting and the meat and bakery are disasters."
RWDSU has walked the line with many other unions in the province and lent out their Strike Mobile many times for their actions. So other unions are contributing to the strike fund and the Sask. Federation of Labour, representing 93,500 workers in 35 unions, has called for a consumer boycott of Sobeys stores in Regina and Saskatoon Dec. 15.
"We don’t take calling a boycott lightly, and it’s a rare occasion when we have taken such a step," said Larry Hubich, president of the Sask. Federation of Labour. "But it’s become clear to us that the employer’s tactics and posture are rooted in a desire to strip workers of their right to a democratic voice in the workplace. In other words—it’s an agressive attempt at union busting."
The Dept. of Labour appointed a conciliator Sept. 23 to bring the sides together. Workers have twice rejected agreements by large majorities. In each case, the vote on the "last and final" company offer was required by provincial labor codes.
Wages at Sobeys top out at $14 an hour, $12.13 in U.S. funds. RWDSU workers want to match Safeway, which pays $19 an hour, Butson said. Even though Canadian workers have single-payer healthcare that covers hospital and doctors’ bills, they still have to negotiate insurance benefits for prescription drugs, dental, eye care and specialists like chiropractors and massage therapists. Currently Sobeys pays about half the cost, which leaves the worker about $750 per year to cover.
The parties returned to the table Jan. 24 with a government conciliator. Talks commenced with a positive light, Banting said.
"The company isn’t doing well at all. We put their business down by 80 to 90 percent and we thought they’d weakened," Banting said. "But their last offer was worse than the previous one. We could probably successfully charge them with bad faith bargaining."
Lowering labor standards seems to be the employer’s goal, Butson said.
"Just like Wal-Mart, they like to hire young kids to keep the wages low and the turnover high," Butson said. The employers have told workers their jobs aren’t "career jobs" even though many will work in the industry for 30 years and more, she added.
The months of long, 12-hour days on the picket line, especially tough now in the cold and snow, have not disheartened the strikers.
"We’re determined to stick this out until we get an offer we can accept," Butson said.
