Stella’s is discontinuing dine-in service at its Sherbrook Street location after failing to resolve a labour dispute with its striking employees.
Workers at the Winnipeg restaurant chain’s Sherbrook location have been walking a picket line since last Monday, after talks between their union’s bargaining team and Stella’s management broke down earlier this month.
In a statement, Stella’s said talks have now ended with the union, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 832, following a meeting with a provincially appointed conciliator.
“The restaurant group reiterates that the union’s demands are impossible to implement and operate under,” the statement says.
Stella’s did not say how many employees would be impacted by the change.
UFCW Local 832 president Jeff Traeger said the union is disappointed with Stella’s decision, calling the restaurant’s management anti-union.
“Today, during our day of conciliation, instead of making any attempt to talk or discuss any position at the bargaining table, they continued the path of trying to punish their workers, and they only offered concessions that would make life worse for workers,” he said in an email.
The union is planning to discuss its options with its members, but Traeger noted that closing down the dining room in the restaurant does not end the union’s legal right to strike.
Traeger has previously said the dispute was never about wages, but working conditions and treatment of employees.
The union’s bargaining committee had been meeting with Stella’s management since June to negotiate a deal for workers, but was unsuccessful.
In May, the Osborne Street location — the only other Stella’s location that’s unionized — was closed. Earlier this month, the chain announced it is also shuttering its airport location after a drop in airline travel.
