100 per cent of unionized workers at the Dauphin Safeway store voted in favour of a strike to back contract demands.

Jeff Traeger, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 832, says a fear of a store conversion is one of the main issues worrying local employees.

"They were going to be closing some stores in Manitoba. We asked them which stores, they refused to tell us which stores. So we don’t know if Dauphin is one of those. They also say they are going to be converting some stores to a discount banner. That’s recently happened with a recent employer in Dauphin when the Extra Food store converted to a No Frills. And we don’t know because the company refused to tell us which stores are slated for conversion.”  

The union says workers will be in a legal strike position on March 18, the day after their current contract expires.