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Unifor to begin negotiations for workers at Loblaw-owned stores in Ontario

Unifor is set to begin negotiations on behalf of more than 2,800 grocery workers at Loblaws-owned stores in Ontario and Newfoundland as they attempt to bring the gains made for Metro workers in the GTA to other chains.
Unifor national president Lana Payne says replicating a pattern with the employer is much easier than trying to do so with a different one, especially as Loblaw holds a reputation for being “notoriously tough at the bargaining table.”
“This will be the first big round of bargaining with a major chain outside of Metro since our summertime strike,” she said.
More than 3,700 Metro workers in Greater Toronto walked off the job this summer after rejecting their first tentative deal. They ultimately accepted a “historic” agreement with significant wage gains more than a month later.
The union intends to repeat these gains for other grocery store workers it represents.
The union recently replicated the pattern in another agreement representing four Metro-owned stores in Ontario and hopes to do the same with another small Ontario Metro unit that’s currently in talks, Payne said.
On Oct. 21, a collective agreement covering around 1,200 workers at multiple Ontario No Frills stores, a chain owned by Loblaw, expired.
READ MORE: Toronto-area Metro workers ratify 2nd tentative agreement after month-long strike
The past year has seen an increase in workers rejecting deals across sectors.
Experts have said inflation, rising interest rates and a tight labour market have all contributed to empowering grocery workers to ask for more at the bargaining table.
Meanwhile, employers have seen profits soaring amidst political pressure to stabilize retail prices.
Unifor plans to bargain the No Frills contract first this fall, followed by Dominion stores in Newfoundland and Labrador, said Payne.
The No Frills contract, which covers 17 stores, will be an important one, said Payne. Workers tend to be paid less in discount stores, and yet amid inflation and rising interest rates, more customers are flocking to them, she said.
“They’re adding more discount stores to their business … that tells us that this is a very profitable line of the Loblaws business right now.”
A deal struck for Real Canadian Superstore workers in Manitoba recently could hint at what’s ahead for Unifor.
WATCH MORE: 3,700 Metro workers walk off the job to strike after rejecting deal
Over the weekend workers there voted to accept a deal that includes “the highest wage increase percentages that the union has negotiated in a retail contract in 25 years.”
Workers will receive a 5.6 per cent raise immediately, followed by another 3.3 per cent increase in six months for a contract that will see total gains of nearly 16 per cent over five years , said Jeff Traeger, president of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada Local 832 .
They will also receive boosts to benefits, more full-time jobs and more opportunities for part-time workers.
UFCW, which represents more than 140,000 workers in grocery retail across the country, has already reached similar deals with Loblaw-owned stores in Western Canada, said Traeger.
Traeger, who has bargained with Loblaw for almost two decades and agreed they have historically been tough, said things felt a little different this time. The employer came offering more than usual, he said.
“I think they knew that they couldn’t come in and try to play the cheap-out game at bargaining or our members wouldn’t accept it.”
This report was created with files from The Canadian Press
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