Metro averts Unifor strike in greater Toronto

Canadian grocer Metro Inc. has reached a tentative contract agreement with union Unifor, averting a strike at more than two dozen Toronto-area supermarkets.

Metro and Unifor Local 414, representing 3,700-plus grocery workers at 27 greater Toronto stores, came to an accord shortly after midnight on Wednesday. The union had set a deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday to go on strike if negotiations failed to yield a labor deal.

Plans call for Unifor Local 414 to hold ratification votes on the tentative pact from Sunday through July 28, at which time details of the proposed contract will be presented to members, Montreal-based Metro reported.

“Metro Ontario Inc., a subsidiary of Metro Inc., is pleased to announce that it has reached a tentative agreement with Unifor for the renewal of the collective agreement of its unionized employees at 27 Metro locations across the greater Toronto area,” Metro stated Wednesday. “The agreement, which is fair and equitable for our employees and customers, is unanimously recommended by the union’s bargaining committee.”

On June 20, Unifor Local 414 had voted unanimously to authorize a work stoppage against Metro, even with contract talks scheduled to get under way June 26. The union, later setting a strike deadline for end-of-day Tuesday, said the vote presented Metro “with a resounding strike mandate from its workers” heading into collective bargaining sessions.

Unifor Local 414 members reached a tentative  deal with Metro just after midnight on Wednesday, following an earlier strike authorization vote that had set a Tuesday 11:59 p.m. deadline. / Photo courtesy of Unifor

“The solidarity and resolve demonstrated by our Metro workers throughout the bargaining process have been truly remarkable. Members were 100% united in their demand for fair pay, better health and sick leave benefits, and stable work hours—and their unity has resulted in an agreement that our committee is incredibly proud of,” Unifor Local 414 President Gord Currie said in a statement on Wednesday. “Frontline grocery workers—at Metro and beyond—face immense challenges, from not being able to afford food or rent to having unpredictable schedules that prevent them from being with family, which is exactly why members were willing to fight in order to improve their working conditions.”

Metro Ontario stores that would have been affected by the Unifor Local 414 strike included nine locations in Toronto, four in North York, three in Scarborough, two in Mississauga, two in Etobicoke, two in Newmarket, and one apiece in Brantford, Orangeville, Milton, Oakville and Brampton, CityNews Toronto reported.

Unifor represents over 11,000 frontline grocery store workers at Canada’s largest grocery retailers—Loblaw Cos., Sobeys Inc./Empire Co. Ltd. and Metro Inc.—in Ontario, Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia and Quebec. On May 31, Unifor—Canada’s largest private-sector union—announced that over the next two years it would be engaged in collective bargaining to renew more than a dozen contracts with the “big three” grocers, starting with Metro.

“I’m incredibly proud of our frontline grocery workers for their resolve in achieving a fair collective agreement,” Unifor National President Lana Payne commented on Wednesday. “This is a milestone agreement that underscores Unifor’s deep commitment to grocery workers in the retail sector and our important work to advance their workplace rights. This agreement will lay the foundation for grocery workers across the country as workers, both unionized and non-unionized, make clear their urgent need for improved working conditions amidst a chronic affordability crisis.”

Metro’s retail network encompasses 975 food stores under the Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, Food Basics, Adonis, Marché Richelieu and Première Moisson banners as well as 645 drugstores and pharmacies under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick.