UFCW to vote Friday on new offer from Saskatoon Co-op

Hundreds of Saskatoon Co-op employees who have spent two months on strike are expected to vote Friday on a new contract offer — which, if accepted, would end the job action.

The retail co-operative presented the offer to United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1400 on Thursday. The union agreed to take it to its roughly 900 members for a vote.

The details of the offer were not immediately clear on Thursday, but Saskatoon Co-op characterized it as a “revised version” of the two-tier wage system at the root of the labour dispute.

“Their union and our Co-op have had honest, productive discussions to arrive at this offer. Having it go to a vote is definitely a step forward,” Saskatoon Co-op CEO Grant Wicks said in a statement.

UFCW Local 1400 Rod Gillies wrote in a text message that the bargaining committee decided to bring the offer to members for a vote, but “there is not much else to say” at the moment.

The strike began Nov. 1 after the co-operative’s employees, who have been without a contract for more than two years, took exception to management’s proposal to cap maximum earnings for new hires.

While the co-operative says the move is necessary for it to remain financially sustainable over the long term, the union argues the proposal is unfair to its future employees, who will not benefit as current employees do.

The labour action grew increasingly tense, with reports of vandalism at the co-operative’s head office, a stalled attempt to unseat its board of directors and tension between pickets and security guards.

The co-operative has reported a steadily increasing number of employees choosing to cross the picket line and return to work as the strike dragged through November and into December.