Two former Safeway stores in Richmond will soon open, as expected, as discount supermarket brand FreshCo.
The stores at Blundell and Broadmoor shopping centres closed last summer, after months of uncertainty amid fears for unionized workers’ collective agreements.
Sobeys Inc., which owns Safeway, announced Tuesday lunchtime that both stores will be among 10 former Safeway stores re-opening in the spring as the first FreshCo locations in B.C.
The FreshCo stores, say Sobeys, will re-open with pharmacy departments.
Last July, nine Safeway stores in Metro Vancouver closed and the union representing workers claimed that the closures impacted 1,000 employees.
At the time, the workers’ union, UFCW 1518, called the closures “an insult and an outrage.”
The Richmond News reported last April how Safeway in Western Canada ran into financial problems since Sobeys purchased the well-known brand name supermarket.
UFCW had claimed the stores had been mismanaged and the company was trying to lower wages for the remaining workers.
At the time, more than 100 employees in Richmond were affected.
A statement issued Tuesday by UFCW 1518’s president, Kim Novak, took another shot at Empire, the Canadian conglomerate which owns Sobeys Inc, saying that “Empire has made it clear that their bottom line comes before the interests of their hard working and dedicated employees.
“Their desire to move to a discount banner has led to challenges in these existing, established Safeway stores.”
FreshCo, said Novak, will be represented by UFCW 1518, however “there are issues with the collective agreement issued by (mediator Vince Ready) and the ability for Sobeys to convert; both issues are being appealed to the BC Labour Relations Board and the BC Court of Appeal.”
“There’s been a lot of uncertainty around the buyout offer since Mr. Ready handed down his ruling in December,” explained Novak.
“We’re glad the offers are finally being made, but our legal counsel needs to review everything. We’re working as quickly as we can to ensure that things proceed legally and that members are properly informed.”
