The strike at Saskatoon Co-Op has stretched into its seventh week and there’s no end in sight.
Workers rallied in downtown Saskatoon on Friday outside Federated Co-Op.
It was day 34 on the picket line for Amber Dunkley. She is one of hundreds of employees who walked off the job Nov. 1.
“They need to realize that we’re serious about this and we’re not going to back down,” she said.
The workers oppose a two-tier wage system which would see new hires make less money than those already employed.
“Say if my daughter wants to work at Co-Op when she’s a little bit older, she can still do that and she can still make the same wage and make a fair pay as the rest of the employees,” Dunkley said.
The union representing the workers calls negations with Saskatoon Co-Op “fruitless.”
“We’re at the table at any time to make that happen, but you have to have two parties that are willing and right now Saskatoon Co-Op, the board of directors and FCL are not willing to do that,” said Norm Neult, president of UFCW Local 1400.
Saskatoon Co-Op CEO Grant Wicks said the union needs to bargain the same type of multiple-tier wage system that it has with the brand’s national competitors – and even other Co-Ops – adding that the system saves millions of dollars annually.
“When you see that type of difference in wages, we can’t support that.”
While the strike has hurt business, sales are starting to bounce back, he said.
The union has suggested binding arbitration but he said that is a “needless complication” that “drags the process out.”
There are no plans for the union and Co-Op to resume negotiations.
