Metro grocery store workers in Greater Toronto Area unanimously vote to give strike mandate: Unifor

The cost of groceries continues to soar even as Canada's general inflation rate cools. Plus, a big box retailer is giving all of its workers a raise. Business Editor Kris McCusker reports.

Workers at Metro grocery stores in the Greater Toronto Area have voted 100 per cent to give a strike mandate as contract talks are set to begin, according to union representatives.

A news release issued by Unifor on Tuesday said pay, benefits and work hours are front and centre for workers.

“What were once some of the best, family supporting jobs in Canada are now among the lowest paid in the country. You know it’s bad when a grocery worker can’t afford the food they’re stocking on Metro’s shelves,” Unifor Local 414 president Gord Currie wrote in a statement.


RELATED: Canadians making fewer trips to the grocery store as inflation pinches, report says


The statement said officials with the union local, which represents approximately 3,700 workers at 27 store locations in the GTA, will begin negotiating a collective agreement with Metro corporate staff on Monday.

A campaign created by Unifor called Good Jobs for Grocery Workers also highlighted other issues facing grocery workers such as a lack of full-time jobs and the increased use of automation technology.

CityNews contacted Metro to ask about the vote and the issues raised in the news release, but a representative declined to comment.

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