Strike Averted By Last Minute Agreement At Loblaws

After weeks of sometimes bitter negotiations, Loblaws and its employees have reached an agreement, ending the possibility a walkout would close its supermarkets.

The job action would have come on the eve of Thanksgiving, one of the busiest food shopping weekends of the year. Grocery stores are expected to be jammed as families prepare for their traditional annual holiday meals.

The settlement means all Loblaws, Zehrs, Fortinos and Canadian Superstores will be open for business as usual.

Terms of the agreement won’t be revealed until the workers get a chance to examine it but the union was vigourously recommending approval.

“This is a good collective agreement for our members reflecting all the dynamics that have been involved in these negotiations,” explains  Wayne Hanley of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. “Ratification meetings are in the process of being scheduled over the coming days.”

The tentative deal came “after weeks of difficult and complex negotiations and round-the-clock bargaining.”

“While our members at Fortinos are currently covered under a contract not set to expire until 2007, a tentative agreement for those members has also been achieved in this set of negotiations,” Hanley adds.

The two sides were locked in a dispute over plans to lower wages to help the chain compete with cost cutting outlets like Wal-Mart, which have been eating into the grocery giant’s bottom line.

The strike had been scheduled to start after midnight Friday, but signs of progress kept talks going until they finally reached a compromise in the afternoon.

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