“We can’t even shop at our own grocery store. We can’t afford to.”
The above comment in a news article came from Eman Chaudhry, a part-time cashier at a Toronto Metro store, explaining why they are striking. The article that included her quote stated that “she and her family struggle to make ends meet to live in the city. As a part-time worker, she does not receive any sick days.”
Workers use their democratic rights
The 3,700 workers across Metro Toronto were presented with a four-year deal on July 19, negotiated by the workers’ union, Unifor, which had the effect of calling off the planned strike, pending a ratification vote. Unifor started bargaining on June 26 with a 100 percent strike mandate. The tentative agreement (TA) was unanimously recommended by the Unifor bargaining committee, accompanied by this statement from Unifor’s national president Lana Payne: “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.” Except the membership didn’t think so, voting to reject the TA. Even as picket lines went up on Saturday morning, July 29, Payne was describing that TA as the “best agreement in decades.” A few hours later, she had the sense to accept the reality that the members knew better than she did about what constituted a good agreement. “We brought the tentative agreement to our members because it contained considerable gains, but our members are clear that it simply isn’t enough,” said Lana Payne.
The bosses cry out when workers exercise their democratic right to decide whether to accept a contract. They were outraged when the democratic processes of ILWU twice resulted in the rejection of tentative agreements. Voting on a contract is one of the few democratic rights that workers have, and the bosses don’t like it. They think workers should accept what their “leaders” decide, in their union, in their workplace, or in their life.
Metro profits increase, workers’ pay declines
It is clear why the members said it wasn’t enough. The workers, 70 percent of whom work part time, earn an average of $16 to $17 an hour while full time employees are earning an average of $22.60 an hour. Those low earnings help to explain the profits reaped by Metro (and the other big grocery store corporations) — a 10.4 percent jump in profits on food and pharmacy in April with sales in the company’s second quarter totalling $4.55 billion, up 6.6 percent from $4.27 billion in the same quarter last year. In the period 2010 to 2022, Metro’s net income steadily increased from $385 million to $922 million. Profits increased over the COVID years, which explains why workers are also incensed at the company for not reinstating the $2-an-hour pay premium that workers temporarily received during the height of the pandemic in 2020. According to its website, Metro claims that “Its purpose is to nourish the health and well-being of our communities.” Not much nourishing is happening here when many of its own workers can’t afford to shop there.
The importance of COLA
Wages are the main driving force behind this strike. Apparently, the last proposal included wage increases above inflation, but not enough to catch up with what has been lost in the past period of price increases. Apart from catching up, the workers need a clause in their agreement that guarantees automatic compensation for inflation, namely COLA (cost of living agreement). The origins of COLA and its history in Canada are given here.
Public supports workers
The majority of the public are behind the striking workers. The local TV news on Saturday showed cars honking and people passing by who were equally supportive. “At one east-Toronto Metro store, striking workers taking shelter from heavy rains called for fair wages and chanted ‘workers united!’ as passing drivers honked their horns.” Both federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Unifor National President Lana Payne were on hand to support the picket. This is an important strike, not just for Toronto grocery workers but across Canada. Unifor plans to pattern bargain, meaning the Metro deal would ideally set a precedent for future negotiations.
The working class is back
It’s also worth noting that this strike has something in common with another strike going on in BC — the port workers, who walked off the job on July 1. Both sets of workers have seen the rank and file take a prominent role in the direction of the two strikes, as recommendations to accept a deal from both leaderships were rejected.
There is another significant strike currently taking place in Ontario — at Hamilton’s National Steel Car, which has entered its second month. It involves 1,400 workers at the rail manufacturing plant who are fighting for wage increases to make up for the soaring cost of living as well as improvements to the terrible safety conditions at the plant. Three workers have died on the job in recent years and in July, National Steel Car was fined $140,000 for failing to maintain safe working conditions.
The increase in strikes in Canada — 2022 had the most days lost in strikes since 2009 — is part of an international trend, summarized by Mick Lynch, the leader of the British rail union; “the working class is back.” International Socialist Alternative posted an article on May Day this year which amplified Lynch’s point. “Since May Day 2022, there has been an important upturn in the activity of the multiracial, multi-gendered and multigenerational workers’ movement. It has been active in struggles across the world — shaking the regimes of tyrants, defending the most oppressed sections of the class and taking on the bosses’ attempts to push the cost-of-living crisis further onto workers’ shoulders. Though there will be peaks and valleys in every struggle and it will not proceed at the same pace everywhere at the same time, this process is not a blip, but the beginning of a crucial and lasting turning point.”
