The Sunwood Square Safeway will not reopen under a new brand but its employees have a few extra months left after a special officer was called in to handle a dispute between owner Sobeys and the union representing workers.

Vince Ready has ordered the company to keep nine Safeway stores open until July 5, including the Coquitlam operation. Sobeys had slated the stores for closure on May 5, according to a statement from the union.

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“This direction by Mr. Ready is good news,” said UFCW 1518 president Ivan Limpright, in a statement. “It ensures that our members will continue to work at the stores for at least two more months. That’s two more months of income. Two more months to plan their lives.”

UFCW 1518 and Sobeys agreed to adjourn an illegal lockout complaint filed by the union with Labour Relations Board (LRB) of B.C. to enable Ready to mediate the dispute. The union filed the complaint in January after Sobeys announced it would close 10 Safeway locations just before negotiations were set to begin. The union subsequently filed a number of grievances related to the planned stores closures with the LRB.

Ready will serve as a mediator in an effort to resolve the various disputes arising out of the store closures. If the parties do not reach a voluntary agreement, any disputes that had been before the LRB will go back to the LRB to be decided.

The company had said earlier this year that some stores could re-open as discount FreshCo stores. But the Sunwood Square Safeway is not on a list of those stores released this week.

In addition to Sunwood Square, the following stores will close permanently July 5: Lougheed Mall, City Square and Point Grey in Vancouver, and Royal Oak in Burnaby.

Two Safeway stores in Richmond, two in Surrey and one in Mission have the potential to reopen as FreshCo stores following outcome of discussions with unions, a company press release states.