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OTTAWA- Retail workers at Ottawa-area Rexall stores are set to return to the bargaining table united in their demand for decent wages and fairness.
“Rexall is raking in profits, but expects employees to be content with precarious, part-time, minimum wage jobs,” said Gord Currie, President of Unifor Local 414. “Retail workers deserve better. We fought for reforms like fairer scheduling through legislative change then the Conservatives rolled it back. Now we’re facing the employer to write decent work into the contract.”
The master bargaining team represents approximately 425 workers at 30 stores located across the Greater Ottawa Area. The current collective agreement expired on December 31, 2018.
Employees have seen an increased use of part-time work over the past several years at Rexall stores without any guaranteed hours for those workers. This is leading to a high turnover rate of 81 percent within part-time staff.
The union is advocating for more full-time positions and better working conditions, including better predictability and seniority in scheduling for part-time workers.
“Unifor is proud to represent retail and wholesale workers who are often on the front lines in the fight for $15 and fairness in Ontario,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director. “Rexall workers are aiming to solidify Unifor’s campaign for decent work by negotiating a new contract that reverses much of what was in Ford’s anti-worker Bill 47, and they’ve got the full backing of the union to do it.”
The union and the employer have future talks scheduled for March 11-15.
Members and the public can access information on the union’s program for Bargaining Decent work here.
For more information, please contact Unifor Communications National Representative Sarah McCue at @email or at 416-458-3307 (cell).
