This past Thursday, we learned that the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Union and restored the Arbitrator’s Wage Reopener decision.
We advised the Court of Appeal that if the decision was overturned, we would reinstate the wages and make them retroactive to January 26, 2025. We always do what we say we are going to do. As such, we will be reinstating the wage adjustments with retro pay for top of scale teammates before the end of March 2026.
We remain firm in our position and disagree with the Court’s ruling which stemmed from critical errors in the original decision and was partially based on inaccurate information your Union submitted at the arbitration. This ruling puts additional cost pressure on our Alberta business which could result in further store conversions and/or closures. Given this, and to protect the Safeway business in Alberta, we will continue to challenge the decision to the highest court, and we will keep you informed along the way.
As you know, we are currently bargaining the collective agreement with UFCW Local 401. We remain hopeful that we will find a path forward in the near term, for us to reach an agreement that is fair for our teammates while protecting the future of the Safeway network in Alberta.