To: Labour Relations Board of British Columbia

From: UFCW 247 Union Members

We the union members of UFCW247 had a contract with Real Canadian Superstore that expired in August of 2021. We have recently participated in a voting process to whether accept or reject the proposed contract with our union and the company.  We believe that the union badly represented us. We believed that the voting process was not done in the right manner. Union members were intimidated to accept management’s offer, which was nowhere near a decent proposal, ballot boxes were unlocked and the ballots were counted two days after the vote and there was no independent/third party to join in the counting.  Leaders of the union are suppose to support the members and focus on how to provide assistance to improve the growth of its members especially on the financial aspect.

One more thing is that the Distribution Center or warehouse employees were included in the contract. The distribution center is where almost all of our stock and supplies in the stores come from. They have a different work environment and different clientele. They were given a substantial amount for their increase in pay compared to the inadequate and depressing amount that the company was offering to the front liners. They should have been given a different contract to vote for. Instead they voted for one contract which divided the voting population.

We would like the board to investigate the process and take immediate action on this matter because this involves thousands of union members who have struggled for years and will do in the next several years due to the high inflation all around the world.