Teamsters reach agreement with Loblaws hours before lockout

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A union representing hundreds of workers at the Calgary Rob Rose warehouse accepted a deal with their employers hours before they were locked out of their jobs.

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Members of Teamsters Local Union 987 have agreed to accept an offer from grocery giant Loblaws on November 25th. The agreement came in a news release from the union on Friday, hours before lockout notices went into effect at the company’s Calgary Freeport facility. said on Saturday.

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Trade union representatives were not reached for comment on Saturday. Details of the agreement were not provided.

66% of voting members agreed with the final proposal from Loblaws.

More than 500 employees were laid off as the two sides negotiated contracts after their previous collective bargaining agreement expired in June. It was not immediately clear if the new contracts would return the 500 affected employees to work.

Loblaws was not immediately reachable for comment on Saturday.

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By Friday, the two sides had been unable to reach an agreement after the union rejected several offers from employers that workers could receive significant pay increases. He told the media that salaries were not the issue and that the shift structure was causing the stalemate.

Local 987 business agent and bargaining committee spokesman John Taylor previously told the Post Media that the last collective bargaining agreement of 2016 included seniority in shift schedules and guarantees of consecutive days off from the agreement and the union. Said it was negotiated. I want to see them come home.

“Basically, it’s quality of life. Someone has to do a shit shift, right? But usually they are juniors,” he said. “It’s a lot of things. It’s not about the money.”

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A previous deal was rejected in early November, with 76% of members voting against the proposal. Her second deal was rejected on November 15th.

Employers issued termination notices to more than 500 of the 534 members working on the site earlier this week. These layoffs were set to go into effect on Friday, November 25th.

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh tweeted on Friday saying he was in solidarity with workers in Calgary. Members of his party have repeatedly called for action against rising food prices amid record high inflation.

“My message to Rob Rose is to stop union busting and treat workers with respect,” Singh tweeted.

dshort@postmedia.com

— Using files from Josh Aldrich