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Winnipeg—The closure of a Safeway warehouse at 1000 King Edward Street could cost 125 employees their jobs, Unifor Local 468 members learned today. Sobey’s (Empire Co.) bought Safeway in June 2013 and promised at the time to retain Safeway workers.
“The closure announcement came as a shock to us all,” said Mark Armstrong, a Safeway worker and President of Unifor Local 468, which represents 1,000 workers across the province and 160 Safeway workers. “Today’s announcement contradicts the employer’s earlier statements about job security.”
The company told employees that the warehouse will start the transfer process late this summer and will be closed within a year.
“Something is deeply wrong when profitable firms like Sobey’s are cutting good jobs in our communities,” said Joie Warnock, Unifor’s Western Director.
Safeway’s frozen foods warehouse at 1265 Empress Street (20 employees) and the trucking department (18 employees) will remain open.
Last year Sobey’s closed the Lucerne Foods plant in Winnipeg, forcing 50 employees out of work.
Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing more than 305,000 workers. It was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions merged.
