A union grievance prompted by the stabbing of a No Frills supermarket employee in Winnipeg is being sent to arbitration, after meetings failed to reach a resolution.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832 claims the victim and her colleagues were not provided a safe workplace at the grocery store, violating their collective agreement.
“We have now sent the matter to arbitration and we’re trying to push the employer to make immediate changes, which they are reluctant to do,” said Jeff Traeger, the local’s president.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
The No Frills on Notre Dame Avenue where a worker was stabbed while intervening with an alleged shoplifter.
A hearing date has not been set.
Ontario-based Loblaw Co. Ltd. will not comment on an “open matter” between the company and union, said spokesman Dave Bauer. Loblaw is Canada’s biggest grocery retailer.
The attack happened at the No Frills store at 600 Notre Dame Ave., just east of Sherbrook Street, on Nov. 29.
A 59-year-old female employee was seriously injured when she was stabbed in the chest by an alleged shoplifter, according to police and witnesses.
Jayden Smith, 18, was charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon and two counts of robbery in the stabbing and a separate incident that happened at a downtown Giant Tiger store 10 days earlier.
In the Giant Tiger incident, two men — one wielding a hammer and the other an axe — assaulted a security guard and fled with his cellphone and store merchandise, police said.
The incidents happened amid concerns about escalating thefts and violence against retail workers in Manitoba.
The UFCW said it had already held discussions with Loblaw and other companies about safety concerns and how to better protect staff from violence prior to the stabbing at No Frills.
The grievance process typically requires multiple meetings between a union and employer. If the sides do not come to a resolution, the grievance moves to a more formal legal process, such as arbitration.
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