Vancouver, Oct. 3 - A tentative agreement has been reached to avert a strike at Loblaw Cos Ltd operations in Saskatchewan, the union said Friday.
But workers at the company's unionized stores in Alberta are preparing for a strike that could begin on Monday if a deal is not reached, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said.
The tentative agreement in Saskatchewan was reached after round-the-clock bargaining. Details of the deal were not released.
The workers are employed at the company's Extra Foods, Real Canadian Superstores and Real Canadian Wholesale Clubs. The UFCW union represents workers in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, but the two western provinces negotiate separately from each other.
In Alberta, the union said workers will strike in Edmonton Monday and in Calgary Tuesday. It said the company had presented an offer that improved wages but did not meet demands in areas such as night work premiums.
Loblaw, Canada's biggest grocer, reached a tentative settlement with its unionized employees in Manitoba last week.