Canadian Labour Movements

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/2356612

Front-line grocery store workers at Metro, who are into their third day of a work stoppage, vowed on Monday to stay off the job until they get a fair deal from the company.

More than 3,000 store workers at 27 Metro locations in the Greater Toronto Area began strike action on Saturday after rejecting a tentative collective agreement reached last week between the company and their union — Unifor.

"We want the company to come back and give us a fair deal," Tammy Laporte told CBC News outside Metro Danforth.

"We're on strike because we want fairness from our company. We want Metro to pay their workers what they're worth and we'll stand out here as long as it takes."

Unifor Local 414 represents some 3,700 grocery store workers across the GTA.

Unifor said stores affected by the strike include those in Toronto, Brantford, Orangeville, Milton, Oakville, Brampton, North York, Islington, Willowdale, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Newmarket and Scarborough.

Laporte, a produce and fruit clerk, who has worked with Metro for 25 years, said "wages is the top issue" for the workers.

"We want more money. They make great profits and we want to share in the benefits," she said.

Another worker with the company for 25 years, Mike Labatt, said workers are "fighting for what they believe in and what they need to get by."

He said some workers are forced to go to food banks because they cannot afford to buy groceries.

"We're not being able to buy the food we want from the grocery stores we work in, right? So why not give us what we need so we can survive paying rent, paying our bills, groceries," Labatt said.

Metro says it remains committed to bargaining process In a statement on Monday, Metro Inc. said it remains committed to the bargaining process.

Marie-Claude Bacon, Metro's vice president of public affairs and communications, said the company "worked constructively with the union and the employees' bargaining committee" and reached a mutually satisfactory agreement that they unanimously recommended to employees.

"It provided significant increases for our employees over the four years of the collective agreement in addition to improved pension and benefits, building on working conditions that are already among the highest in the industry which were negotiated with this union," Bacon wrote in the statement.

According to Bacon, the proposed wage increases are above the inflation rate for 2023 and future increases are above the projected inflation rate.

"Every part-time employee who wants a full-time position has opportunities. For example, in the last two years alone, we've opened up a number of full-time positions and we haven't been able to fill them all from our part-time ranks. Even today, we have full-time positions posted that part-time employees can apply for," Bacon said.

On Saturday the company said it was "extremely disappointed" the employees rejected the agreement even though the union bargaining committee unanimously recommended it to its members.

Metro Ontario said the 27 stores will be closed for the duration of the strike, but pharmacies will remain open.

Toronto—Frontline grocery workers at 27 Metro stores in the GTA will begin strike action on Saturday, July 29, at 12:01 a.m., with picket lines forming at each store at 8:00 a.m.

The strike action comes after Unifor Local 414 members voted to reject a tentative collective agreement.

“This decision to go on strike comes after years of these workers being nickelled and dimed while facing increased precarity and eroded job quality. It comes after having pandemic pay stripped away. It comes at a time of record profits and soaring CEO compensation. It comes at a time when life has become simply unaffordable for so many of these workers who risked their health and safety during the pandemic,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “We brought the tentative agreement to our members because it contained considerable gains, but our members are clear that it simply isn’t enough.”

Metro stores impacted by the strike will include those in Toronto, Brantford, Orangeville, Milton, Oakville, Brampton, North York, Islington, Willowdale, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Newmarket, and Scarborough.

Unifor Local 414 represents 3,700 Metro workers who are full and part-time store clerks in all departments, including cashiers, as well as department managers, pharmacy, and Starbucks staff.

“You know the system is broken when frontline workers can’t afford food, rent, or gas,” said Gord Currie, Unifor Local 414 President. “Frontline grocery workers at Metro deserve the utmost respect, especially after working tirelessly through the pandemic.”

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector and represents 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.