Dear Editor:
It is always sad to see a business decide to shut down after it has become part of the community.
We can suppose that in this case it is because a new Safeway and other food options have bled off enough customers to not make IGA viable.
Lesser known is that H.Y. Louie (IGA) did not have the same clout that Safeway did several years back to renegotiate their union contracts down to much lower cost levels.
In the private sector, there are real penalties for companies that have workers' contracts that are much higher than the rest of the marketplace.
We see it in this IGA closing. Public sector workers might be grateful there is no competitive salary cap for them in B.C.
Reg Nordman, New Westminster
