Moose Jaw Co-op strike ends after agreement reached
CBC News | Posted: November 7, 2018 5:15 PM | Last Updated: November 8, 2018
Workers had been on strike for more than 30 days, no end in sight to Saskatoon strike
Roughly 400 unionized workers at Moose Jaw's Co-op stores will be back on the job Thursday.
On Wednesday, the United Food and Commercial Workers union reached a deal with the Co-op.
"We're pleased an agreement was reached that was fair to both parties," Co-op general manager Gerry Onyskevitch said in a news release.
Workers served strike notice on October 2.
The new agreement preserves a two-tier wage structure between longer-term employees and those hired more recently. However, the agreement reduces the wage difference between the two groups of workers.
Co-op says the wage structure "was critical to the long-term competitveness" of the business.
The Moose Jaw agreement does not extend to another strike against Co-op stores in Saskatoon, Warman, Martensville, Colonsay and Watrous. Both sides in that dispute remain at a stalemate and have no further negotiations scheduled until November 29.
UFCW said Co-op's offer in Saskatoon would lower wages across 77 per cent of job classifications, including people with mental disabilities on work placements as grocery attendants.
Corrections:- A previous version of this story said that Moose Jaw Co-op employees were locked out. They were not. November 8, 2018 3:36 PM
- A previous version of this story said the new agreement had scrapped two tiers of wages moving forward. In fact, the agreement includes a two-tiered wage structure. November 7, 2018 6:05 PM