At Urban Fare,
Bargaining is coming

In March, your Urban Fare Bargaining Committee will begin negotiating parts of your contract to get better terms. Read more below to learn more about bargaining, find out where to ask questions, and get involved.

Want to know more about the bargaining process? Click here to learn more with our Bargaining 101 guide.

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FAQ

Your questions about the bargaining process answered.

Your rights at work

You have a legal right to be involved in union activity, and we are allowed to speak to workers at their workplace. You shouldn’t get in any trouble for discussing the union negotiations at work.

Your vote is confidential! So unless you share how you voted, no one will know.

Your union Representative, Lucy Everett, can be contacted by email at leverett@ufcw1518.com.

You can call her at 604-868-1405.

Make sure you are receiving communications from your union and don’t hesitate to be in touch with your union rep to make sure you know the latest information.

Bargaining FAQ

Your bargaining committee is working to renegotiate your  existing contract before a full contract renewal takes place in 2025. This is referred to as a contract re-opener. 

We have confirmed bargaining dates with the Employer and will be meeting to get negotiations underway March 6-8 and March 12-14.

The key differences between these two forms of negotiations are that a contract renewal follows the expiry of an existing contract and that during negotiations, the union has the power to strike (workers withdraw labour) and the employer has the power to lock-out (employer locks the workers out from working). In a contract reopener, strike or lockout are not legal permitted and typically commence before the expiry of the contract.

A strike or lock-out typically occurs where the parties are not capable of ratifying terms to complete a contract renewal. In the Urban Fare contract re-opener, if the parties are not capable of ratifying new terms to complete the reopener, then typically the two sides would move to a legal arbitration process through the Labour Board called final offer selection.

In final offer selection, both parties make submissions to the Board on why their preferred terms for changes to the contract should be accepted by the other party. Following submissions, the Board will pick either the employer or the union position in terms of wages and other contract changes, and then order an agreement that must be accepted by both parties.

In a contract re-opener, final offer selection puts pressure on both parties to come to an agreement through negotiation, instead of ending in an order enforced by the Board. This pressure sometimes works to help the parties negotiate an agreement that can be ratified before turning to Arbitration. Parties typically will work in good faith to find and agreement that will avoid the “winner take all” situation that results from final offer selection.
 
With a full Urban Fare contract renewal scheduled for 2025, your committee is working hard toward negotiating a contract reopener in good faith that we are proud to bring back to you for a ratification vote… preferably without the need to turn to final offer selection. If you have any questions about the reopener process, please do not hesitate to contact the union at Reception@ufcw1518.com to be connected to your union rep.

Speak to your union representatives during our store tour on February 6th, or attend our online membership meeting on February 27 from 7pm to 8pm, where we will review bargaining priorities and to answer your questions prior to the commencement of bargaining. We will send more information on how you can participate when we get a little closer to the date. You can also reach out to your bargaining committee members directly or contact your union at reception@ufcw1518.com with any questions you have.

Bargaining Updates

We’ll keep you posted on what is happening at the bargaining table with Urban Fare. 

If you’re not on our email list yet, please reach out to us at reception@ufcw1518.com with your full name, store name and number, employee ID, email address, and cell phone number.