The strike at the Sobeys food warehouse in Terrebonne is over.
The 190 warehouse union members, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), accepted the employer’s last offer and adopted a new collective agreement within three years.
As a result, it ended a layoff of just over three months, calling the strike on February 7th.
In a statement released Tuesday, Empire, Sobeys ’main company, said happy to welcome its employees back to the distribution center and I am excited to continue its activities there to serve its network of stores in Quebec.
Empire believes the additional impact of the strike on earnings per share is estimated at $ 0.05, which will affect the results of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022. These are major transportation -related costs..
The battle has not been easy. On April 20, the Administrative Labor Tribunal ordered Sobeys to stop using scabs, a practice prohibited by law in Quebec.
Eleven people were affected by the court order.
The court intervened following a complaint to the Ministry of Labor brought by UFCWaffiliated with FTQ.
Imbalance in the balance of power
The department sent the first investigator on Feb. 16, then two more on March 10 and they determined there were several strikebreakers.
The administrative judge on file, Benoit Roy-Déry, argued that this use of substitute workers creates an imbalance in the balance of power between the parties at the resulting imbalance threatens to delay the conclusion of a collective agreement.
Since 1977, the Labor Code has prohibited the use of substitute workers during a strike or lockout or the use of an employee’s services to perform the duties of a person who is part of the bargaining unit on strike or locked out. .
Shortly before, on April 15, 69% of union members rejected the first agreement in principle reached between the parties.
Threats of closure
A month earlier, on March 17, The Canadian Press saw a letter sent by Sobeys management to all owners, directors and general managers, reporting a contingency plan. In this letter, the employer said it was re -evaluating the entire network of warehouses in Quebec.
In particular, it is a question of some optimization options […] to ensure the best possible level of service and avoid any future service delays.
Lawyer and negotiator UFCWKim Bergeron, accepted the information without surpriseclaimed that bullying, we’re used to.
Wages and benefits are at the heart of the dispute.
Source: Radio-Canada
