Workers at several local grocers could be on the picket lines by Friday night if their second vote on a new contract fails.

A government-supervised vote is open until 5:30 p.m. as unionized workers at area Loblaw Companies Ltd. stores cast their ballots. The 1,800 workers at nine Loblaw stores in Windsor, Essex County, Chatham and Sarnia, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers, voted to turn down the same deal last week, but agreed to revisit the deal.

“If it’s rejected, there will be a strike,” said Ray Bromley, executive assistant to the president of UFCW Local 175 and 633.

He said the vote should be counted by 6:30 p.m. If the contract is rejected, workers will immediately walk off the job.

Loblaw executive vice-president of labour relations Roy Conliffe said even if there is a strike, the stores will remain open.

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Employees at Calgary’s Canada Malting plant have gone on strike. Sixty-nine members of United Food and Commercial Workers local 1118, who work in the plant and lab, walked off the job Tuesday morning, union secretary-treasurer Peter Frost said, after 80 per cent last week rejected the company’s latest contract offer. The main issue is the company’s proposal to move 20 per cent of employees into a defined contribution pension plan rather than a defined benefit plan, Frost said.

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The United Food and Commercial Workers (CFCW) union is seeking a strike mandate after conciliation talks with more than 100 Loblaw-owned stores in Ontario broke down.

It is understood that the major barrier to a settlement is Loblaw’s demand for wage and benefit cuts at the conventional Loblaws and Zehrs stores and concessions at the large format Real Canadian Superstores and Great Food stores.

A spokesperson for the union told just-food yesterday (23 June): “On June 18 the company informed the union it would not move from its demands for wage and benefit concessions. The bargaining committees of all four UFCW Canada Local unions were unanimous in rejecting this position as unacceptable.

“As such, the conciliation talks aimed at reaching a new labour agreement covering nearly 30,000 members of UFCW Canada …broke off with no progress towards a settlement.”

Further conciliation talks scheduled for the week of 5 July have been cancelled, the union said, adding that it is requesting a “no-board” report from the Minister and will be conducting strike votes around the province beginning the same week.

Talks are expected to resume the week of 19 July with a mediator from the Ministry of Labour, CFCW said.

Julija Hunter, vice president of public relations for Loblaw said it is “hopeful” that the union will continue to negotiate.

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