While a severance deal has been struck with hundreds of SLGA store employees set to be laid off by the end of March, some say its not enough to ease their fears about the future.
The government of Saskatchewan announced last year that all 34 of its remaining liquor retail stores would be closed by March 31, 2023. A representative from SGEU, the union representing the affected employees, said Monday a “workplace adjustment plan” including severance was reached in December after weeks of negotiations.
“One thing about severance is it doesn’t last forever,” said Michelle Zimmer, who has worked with SLGA for 17 years in Saskatoon.
“Regardless of how much we do get for severance packages, it’s still scary.”
Zimmer says her job at SLGA helped her raise two children as a single mother and she’d imagined she would retire there.
While her kids are now adults, she worries about being able to continue supporting them as she searches for a new job with equal pay and benefits.
“You get very comfortable in that company, you know your next paycheque’s going to come, and we were treated well at SLGA,” she said, declining to discuss the specifics of her personal payout.
“So knowing that I’m not only going to have to find another job, or jobs, I have to find something that’s also going to make sure I get my benefits as well. You think about your dental bills, your medical bills, and your pension.”
Zimmer said she worries she may have to work more than one job moving forward to make ends meet. She said her store is set to close March 12.
“I really don’t want to have to work two jobs and just be mentally and physically drained, stressed and exhausted everyday. The wage we get with this union job ensures we don’t have to do that.”
Jenny Janvier, meanwhile, has worked at the SLGA liquor store in La Loche for about 11 years.
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Now 44 years old, she says in rural La Loche it will be next to impossible to find a comparable job once the lights go out.
“I really thought I was going to be retiring at SLGA. I’m going to be 44 and starting a new career at 44 is going to be a struggle,” she said.
“Being up here in the north, we don’t really have that many jobs available unless you have a degree, and at 44 going back to school and paying for all of that, it’s like starting over.”
Janvier added that the cost of living in a place like La Loche already poses a challenge. She said gas currently costs around $2 a litre and a package of strawberries costs around $15.
But, while she worries about finding an equally well-paying position, the loss of health benefits weighs equally heavy on her mind.
“I’ve had a toothache for just over a week. What I would do is take the savings and take a quick trip to Saskatoon but even that alone is going to cost me close to $500 or $600 for gas, food and a place to stay,” Janvier said.
“Financially it’s going to take a big effect on myself and everybody else involved, especially up here.”
She said the store in La Loche, which she said employs five, is set to close to the public Feb. 25 with operations ceasing March 18.
“If they knew about this, they could have given us more time. Then there’s a lot of things we could have done differently, like saving up for it or trying to find new employment. Time is everything.”
As dictated by the union’s collective agreement, severance for employees is calculated on the basis of one week’s pay for every year of full-time equivalent experience up to the completion of 19 years.
After that, severance is calculated on the basis of two weeks’ pay for every year of full-time equivalent experience.
SGEU vice-president Bob Stadnichuk, though, said the union was able to negotiate a better deal. He didn’t reveal further details about negotiations.
“It was as far as we were gonna get,” Stadnichuk said
“We thought that based on the fact that the government is winding everything down and they’re getting rid of us that there should be some decent compensation for that. But it wasn’t what we thought it was going to be. We expected better.”
He added the concerns expressed by Zimmer and Janvier reflect a sentiment he’s hearing from many of those affected by the province’s plans.
“To try to find a job that actually allows you to function as a family, especially as a single mother — this kind of job was allowing them to pay their mortgage, to keep their kids in extracurricular stuff,” he said.
“It’s going to be a difficult transition, and a lot of them are asking the questions of ‘what now? Where am I going to go now?'”
The province hasn’t confirmed exactly how much the severance payouts will cost, but last week SLGA Minister Lori Carr said an October estimate pegged the cost of the exit from retail at around $15 million.
A Saskatchewan government spokesperson provided the following response when asked for further comment Monday:
“There will be one-time costs associated with winding down SLGA’s retail operations, including HR related costs and managing leases.
“We do not publicly disclose details about negotiated agreements and the final cost of managing leases will not be known until the process is complete.
“SaskBuilds and Procurement is evaluating the leased assets to see what can be used for government needs so that the leases could be continued.
“The costs of wind down will be offset by revenue associated with the sale of permits and the disposal of owned physical assets such as buildings.”
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