Company 'disappointed,' says spokesperson, citing its 'culture of open communication'
A Walmart Canada warehouse in Ontario has been allowed to unionize.
Ontario’s labour relations board has given Unifor the OK to represent workers at a Walmart warehouse in Mississauga, according to The Canadian Press.
With the certification, the union is now representing about 800 workers at the site west of Toronto on Maritz Drive. Workers unionized under Unifor include those who complete picking, packing and maintenance jobs.
Meanwhile, managers, supervisors and other team leads are not unionized, according to the CP report
“Unifor president Lana Payne previously said workers were keen to unionize because they face challenging working conditions, a lack of benefits and poor pay when compared with the massive profits their employer makes,” CP reported in the article posted on Global News.
Meanwhile, Walmart Canada is “disappointed” about the outcome of the unionization vote, said spokesperson Sarah Kennedy.
The employer believes there’s no need for a union to speak up for workers because the company “already has a culture of open communication,” according to the report.
In May this year, workers at Amazon’s Laval warehouse in Quebec were allowed to unionize. But experts are predicting a tough road ahead towards unionization at other Amazon branches in Canada.
Earlier this year, Walmart Canada announced plans to lay off "several hundred" employees due to changes in some parts of its business. It also introduced material handling robotics and automation technologies in the workplace, saying these will keep “operations bustling” and improve ergonomics for associates.
The unionization at Walmart Canada came just as the employer announced it is investing an additional $92 million in pay increases for hourly retail and frontline associates, according to a Reuters report.
The retailer added it has also prioritized investments in skills training and education offerings at no cost to the associates, according to the report.
The national average base salary increase for 2025 is projected at 3.6%, excluding planned salary freezes, reports Eckler. That marks a drop from projected increases of 4.2% for 2022 and 3.8% for 2023. The company’s projected increase for 2021 was 3.1%.
