Unifor kicks off grocery talks with 100 percent strike vote from ‘fed up’ workers
TORONTO – Unifor says grocery workers are more determined than ever to achieve higher wages and better working conditions as it negotiates more than a dozen collective agreements for two years.
Work will begin next week on contract negotiations for 3,700 subway workers in the Greater Toronto Area, who — in an unusual move — have already voted 100 percent for a strike if a deal cannot be reached.
The pre-negotiation strike vote and 100 percent support for a strike are both rare, said Stephanie Ross, an associate professor in the school of labor studies at McMaster University.
“I think that tells you something about the sense of urgency,” Ross said. “People are falling behind every day.”
The strike vote is a strong signal not only to Metro, but to all three supermarket giants that their workers are fed up, said Unifor president Lana Payne.
“We need to send a signal and a very serious message to the supermarket barons that workers deserve a share of these profits, and that they deserve better pay, better working conditions and more full-time jobs,” she said.
“We want to make important gains in this round of negotiations. We feel we are in a good place to do that.”
Unifor represents more than 11,000 supermarket workers at major grocers in Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Quebec, the union said. Payne said the next collective agreement being negotiated will be for Loblaw employees in Newfoundland and Labrador this fall.
Workers have seen the quality of their jobs crumble over time, with inflation hurting their wages, while grocers are making healthy profits, Payne said.
The pandemic underlined how important grocery store workers are, Payne said, noting that many of them received what they called a “hero’s pay” early on, but that was taken away – something GTA Metro employee Courtney Cook said : “felt like a slap in the face.” the face.”
“These are our first negotiations since the pandemic,” Cook said. “A lot of things have changed during the pandemic and we were considered essential workers. So I think everyone is just frustrated that our salary doesn’t reflect that kind of status.”
Unifor held a national strategy session in May to set priorities for food sector negotiations, Payne said, as the union hopes to establish a pattern and gain momentum with the first round at Metro. Those priorities include significant wage improvements, increased access to better health benefits, eliminating wage disparities, more full-time work and job protection for workers affected by technological change, she said.
The big grocers have come under public scrutiny as inflation soared in Canada last year, reaching more than 8 percent last June as the cost of basic necessities soared. Speaking earlier this year before a parliamentary committee that studied grocery prices, grocer executives denied allegations that food price inflation was driven by profit.
But barring allegations of profiteering, the grocers have made a profit. On Thursday, Empire Company Ltd. that it made $182.9 million in the last quarter, compared to $178.5 million a year ago. Loblaw reported a $418 million profit in the first quarter in its latest earnings report, down from $437 million last year when the company saw a one-time gain from a court ruling. And Metro reported second-quarter earnings of $218.8 million, up from $198.1 million a year earlier.
Unifor is determined to get a bigger slice of that pie for employees, Payne said.
“It’s really just hard that we’re putting everything we’ve got into this business. And we’re not getting back what we think we deserve,” Cook said.
Between the pandemic and the short-lived reward of heroes, continued inflation and grocers’ profits, the grocery industry is in the middle of a “perfect storm,” Ross said, leading to more labor struggles — and not just in the grocery industry.
“People are much more willing to hit the rocks than they may have been in a long time.”
Ross said this first round with GTA Metro employees is paramount in setting a benchmark for Unifor’s pattern-negotiating approach, where it tries to establish a standard for one collective agreement and then push it industry-wide. replicate.
In addition to better pay, Cook said she wants to see Metro jobs become more stable, giving employees more predictable hours so they can better prioritize their family and life outside of work.
She said the 100 percent strike vote shows workers are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they deserve, and she thinks shopkeepers across the country will approach the negotiating table with the same determination.
Payne thinks the pandemic has also made Canadians more aware of grocery workers and what they are dealing with, and that this will translate into public support and sympathy as the workers negotiate with grocers.
“Every day they put their health and safety at risk to go to work for a job that in many cases did not pay them a decent wage,” she said.
“Enough is enough here. We have to make good improvements to this collective agreement and the determination of our members is very strong. And I think this strike vote clearly shows that they are willing to fight if necessary.”
Ross said recent major strikes have generated record levels of public support for workers in the wake of the pandemic and high inflation.
“There is a much more positive climate of potential public support for the union than there may have been in decades,” she said.
“But…it all comes down to strategy, how the union and the employer formulate their messages and how those messages get to the public.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 22, 2023.
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