The Dauphin Co-op has been without a contract since June of 2018.
Jeff Traeger, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832, says they had bargaining scheduled but was delayed until March of this year because of the long Co-op strike in Saskatoon.
“It has been fairly rough. We did have an offer the company made that was turned down earlier this summer by a vast majority of the members and at that time the members gave our committee a strike mandate. We’ve been back to the bargaining table with the assistance of a conciliation officer, and really no progress from the previous offer was made. So at the last time, the two parties were together, the company made us a final offer, which our committee cannot recommend.”
That offer turned down earlier in the summer was turned down by 92% and the membership then voted 75% in favour of giving the bargaining committee a strike mandate.
Traeger says the members are primarily looking at a wage increase for an acceptable deal.
He adds, the two sides have had the same or similar contracts for many years, but this time they are being offered significantly less and are offering less than the cost of living for their members.
Traeger says the two parties are far enough apart that the members will be recommended to turn down the offer. The company will then have a week to decide whether they’re going to strike or go back to the bargaining table and get a deal done.
The final offer will be voted on, on Sunday. If the membership turns it down, there’s a strike deadline of September 3rd.
