While local Canada Safeway staff continue negotiating with the company after their contract expired Sunday, a picket set up outside the store here Wednesday was manned by striking employees from the three Safeway stores in Thunder Bay.
The picketers were stopping customers at the parking lot entrances and exits, offering information about their plight.
Almost 400 workers there have been on strike since Oct. 1.
Besides passing out a pamphlet declaring “Safeway nets huge profits. But at whose expense?” the handful of picketers were advising customers not to buy Safeway brand products.
“We’ve had good reactions from the people,” union member Cindy Moro said between flagging down vehicles.
The picketers, who also plan to hit Safeway’s stores in Dryden and Kenora, have taken there message on the road to raise the profile of their predicament.
“Our union is ready to talk the company at any time, but they won’t come back to the table,” charged Moro.
“We’re just asking for our jobs back. We don’t want the world,” she stressed. “We’ve been loyal workers for many, many years. These are our careers.”
“When you put in 20, 25, 40 years—my husband’s put in over 40 with Safeway—it becomes your life,” echoed another picketer. “This is what we’ve chosen to do.”
Local Ontario Public Service Employees Union members, who have been on strike across the province since March 13, met with the Thunder Bay Safeway strikers for coffee yesterday afternoon.
While management would not comment on the status of contract talks here, it was reported yesterday’s picket did not greatly affect business at the local store.
Three pedestrians were seen changing their minds about going into the store after talking to the picketers in a half-hour span. Several vehicles also entered the parking lot and then turned around and immediately exited.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
