Local Superstore employee Shawn McClellan said she’s a member of Alberta’s working poor thanks to the wages and working hours that her employer has provided in recent years.
The picket line captain was one of many Alberta workers who remained on strike Tuesday after the United Food and Commercial Workers union reached a tentative deal with the store’s parent company Loblaw early Monday morning. Workers first walked off the job on Sunday and were asked to maintain picket lines until union members had a chance to vote on the deal.
Voting was scheduled to take place until 9 p.m. Tuesday evening, past the Gazette’s press deadline.
McClellan, who has worked for the company since 2007, said she earns $13.75 an hour and declares herself available anytime, in order to get at least 28 hours of work a week.
“So trying to support a family on an income like that is horrific,” she said. “I do go to the food bank and I do go to bread runs to help supplement our groceries.”
In a previous interview with the Gazette, union spokesperson Christine McMeckan said more than 75 per cent of Superstore employees are part-time workers who struggle to plan their monthly budgets. The company has cut hours in recent years, she said, despite relying heavily on its part-time workers.
As a result, employees are cut off their benefit plans and worry about job security, she said. The union has also warned Loblaw that staffing issues can create problems with customer service and affect food safety, as workers don't have the time to stock shelves and rotate products.
"When you ask people to do too much work in too little time mistakes are going to happen and things are going to get missed," she said. "We want the employees to be able to have a job they can stay at and have some security."
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 union had first put out a strike notice on Sept. 19, following a 97 per cent strike mandate by Superstore and Liquorstore employees in Edmonton and Calgary a week earlier.
The union represents about 8,500 Superstore employees across the province. The strike date was set as an attempt to get the company to the table after union workers rejected an offer from Loblaw that proposed separate, lower wage scales for new employees. Longstanding employee hours were to be cut to give more hours to new workers.
One of those new employees, Jennifer Stewart, is now walking the picket line with her co-workers at St. Albert Superstore. Stewart said she is still on probation but wants to support the cause and those who have worked at the store for many years.
“The newbies that started out actually got letters that said if you go on strike you will be fired,” she said. “But I checked and that’s not true so I am OK.”
Both Superstore and Liquorstore employees asked customers to shop at other stores to support them until the strike is over. Nonetheless, some shoppers crossed picket lines to buy their groceries as usual. Only a few employees and managers remained in the stores to serve them. Shoppers at the store on Tuesday said they did not have the time to comment.
Amanda Reid, who has worked at the local Liquorstore outlet since 2010, said customer service at the stores suffers from the lack of work hours and training available to employees. The company expects a high turnover rate but if there are no experienced workers in the store to answer questions, the store loses shoppers.
“We are the ones that see our customers every day, we are the ones that get you your loyal customers,” she said. “If you cut us back than you are essentially hurting your customers.”
A letter by the union's bargaining committee posted on its Facebook page Monday morning said the new agreement will “present employees with a number of significant improvements over and above the company's last offer.”
If no deal is reached, workers will continue to walk the picket line, said McClellan.
“People say why don’t you get another job. Well, I’ve been here long enough now that if I stay just a little bit longer I maybe can earn a half decent income,” she said. “I like what I do, I love people, I love my customers. I don’t want to leave.”
Representatives from Loblaw could not be reached for comment.
For up-to-date news on the Superstore strike check out stalbertgazette.com.
