Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

KAMLOOPS BAY STRIKE

No timeline for when striking USW 1-417 workers, Hudson’s Bay will return to negotiations

Jan 12, 2024 | 5:45 PM

KAMLOOPS — Negotiations between local United Steelworkers union members and the Hudson’s Bay Company have reached a stalemate again. The union and the company met alongside a mediator on January 8 after a month of strike actions impacting nearly 50 Kamloops employees.

According to USW Local 1-417 members, negotiations between workers and the Hudson’s Bay Company had been coming along, until the discussion turned to wage increase figures.

“It’s 1 per cent and that’s it,” says USW 1-417’s financial secretary Jordan Lawrence. “The 1 per cent is the first number they gave us, it’s the only number they’ve given us. And as you saw in the media release we can go on strike forever, and that 1 per cent just isn’t going to change.”

“Going on strike forever,” refers to a comment Lawrence says was made by a company negotiator in the most recent meeting.

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“It was demoralizing for sure, especially for the members of the bargaining committee that work at The Bay, it was definitely demoralizing for them. But… the more they thought about it, the angrier they got. And it just charges them up more than they have been.”

CFJC reached out to the Hudson’s Bay Company for comment and received this statement:

Hudson’s Bay appreciates the hard work and dedication of its store associates, who serve our customers every day. We regret the disruption in our Kamloops store and hope to return to serving our customers as soon as possible.

We have offered a wage increase that is fair as it reflects the economic environment in which all discretionary retailers are operating, including Hudson’s Bay. The increase offered is consistent with other stores and in-line with current economic realities.

We remain committed to the bargaining process and are working in good faith toward a resolution. We continue to serve customers through TheBay.com.

The union says it was hoping the dispute would be resolved so the store could have re-opened before the holiday shopping season.

“That’s what we wanted obviously, or it goes until now, and there’s no end in sight because I think everybody knows January, February and March are not shopping months.”

For now, Lawrence says there are no meeting dates scheduled with the company and mediators in the foreseeable future.