MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — In September 2024 workers at the Walmart distribution center on the outskirts of Toronto voted to make Unifor their union by 56%. Over 800 workers here pack and deliver products to Walmart stores all over Ontario.
Now the fight is on to win a first contract, and the stakes are high. Come September, one year from the successful union vote, the company can push for a decertification vote.
Workers at several Walmart stores in Ontario and Quebec have won union certification over the past decades, but none succeeded in getting a contract and keeping the union. In 2005, in Jonquiere, Quebec, Walmart closed the store rather than accept a union.
As soon as Walmart took over the distribution center from its third-party logistics company in 2014, “benefits started diminishing,” Alrick Leslie, who helped initiate the union card-signing campaign in late 2023, told the Militant in a phone interview. The company’s pharma co-pays were reduced from 80% to 50%, he said, and “we weren’t even getting raises to match inflation.”
“Overtime started to be paid only in excess of 40 hours worked. If Monday was a statutory holiday and you worked Saturday, Saturday was not counted as overtime.”
When they took away the COVID pay, workers started up a petition for the extra $2 an hour and for the vacation week after 20 years of service they had also eliminated. “A lot of workers signed the petition,” Leslie said, “and we put it on the general manager’s desk and he told us it was illegal. The company sent out this memo saying we’re not allowed to pass around literature. But we had every reason to organize.”
As soon as we started leafleting, “the company turned on the intimidation tactics,” Justin Gniposky, Unifor’s national director of organizing, told the Militant in a phone interview. “The security guards were told to stand there and stare as workers went in. The number of security guards grew from four or five to 12.”
“The union put out leaflets in Punjabi and English,” said Leslie. “We had a lot of international students.” The company countered, putting out material in Asian languages people in the warehouse used. They were “the silent fighters,” another union supporter told the Militant. “They weren’t the ones in the parking lot handing out leaflets, but they’re the ones who signed for the union. Without them, we wouldn’t have won.” Many work part-time but, because they’re Walmart employees, they’re eligible for union membership.
The day after the victory, Walmart gave all logistics chain employees in Canada a substantial raise, and returned the extra week of vacation after 20 years — except for the 800 who had just voted the union in. Nonunion workers here now earn up to $4 an hour more than union members.
Unifor has filed an Unfair Labor Practices suit, saying the company planned the anti-union move ahead of time. Hearings on the suit began May 28.
Meanwhile, the pace of negotiations “is like watching paint dry,” said Leslie.
The company is keeping up the pressure inside the plant. “After Unifor won the vote, there has been retaliation by the corporation. The number of cameras has tripled,” another unionist wrote the Militant. “Before, we used to have greater flexibility in choosing our schedule and could change days if needed in a particular week. But now even to get vacation, you are asked to submit an application two weeks in advance. Disciplinary actions have doubled.”
Winning a first union contract in Mississauga will have a big impact on Walmart workers across the country and on many others. Weigh in on this fight! Send a solidarity message to uniforlocal252@bellnet.ca. Get out the word to fellow unionists everywhere!