Information from Strathroy

There has been a great deal of talk regarding the Strathroy situation and recently, in an attempt to set the record straight, the employees of the Strathroy store sent out a "Message to all Zehrs Staff from #541 Strathroy". Here are the basic points from that letter:

- Sept. 23/04 Ken Code, Glen Gonder and David Graf(Loblaws) visited the Strathroy Zehrs and informed the staff that on Jan.8/05 the store would close and become a NoFrills unless the staff could convince the union to waive the existing store clause in the RCSS Agreement and treat the expansion of the store as if it were a new store

- the staff formed a committee of 7 people to meet with the union

- Loblaws wish to make changes for 3 reasons. They are (1) the town of Strathroy is in the process of approving a big box retail mall with some 500,000 sq. ft. and (2) they want to convert their stores to RCSS and NoFrills to meet the perceived threat of Walmart and (3) a change in the accounting laws means that they will lose additional monies in taxes if they have to close stores and build new ones. (This loss of revenue will impact earnings which will impact share price.)

- THE STAFF IN STRATHROY HAS NEVER VOTED ON AN OFFER OF ANYTHING! There is no offer in front of the employees - only the union can authorize a vote. The ONLY choice that the staff has is to accept a bump or take severance if offered.

- the union cannot allow the change over to an RCSS (the Strathroy store does NOT meet the criteria of the RCSS Agreement) without violating the collective agreement. This would establish a precedent and employees at other stores would then have a legal issue with the union for violating the contract. The union position is that they must try to protect the rights of ALL the union members in local 1977.

- this is a complicated issue and your help is needed. Ask your supervisors why the company is closing this store without giving them the chance to compete. Let them know that you are concerned. This is important. It affects ALL of us!

- to keep up to date on this situation, bookmark this site and return often. You can also send your email adddress to bsletnes@hotmail.com to get updates,