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TORONTO— Unifor is calling out Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) for awarding management bonuses while thousands of workers face termination and learn that the company has publicly refused to honour its severance pay obligations.
“It’s disgraceful. This is corporate greed at its worst and shows how fundamentally unfair this process is for the very workers who built and sustained this company,” says Unifor National President Lana Payne. “No manager or executive should see a bonus while severance and other legal obligations to workers remain unpaid. We’re going to fight for every dollar owed to these workers.”
As unsecured creditors under CCAA and bankruptcy rules, HBC employees can expect to be low down the line to receive compensation through the CCAA process. The union will pursue all legal avenues to hold HBC to its contractual and financial obligations to Unifor members.
“Government programs, like the WEPP, are inadequate and fail to meet the urgent needs of workers facing layoff,” continued Payne. “For many long-service members, this amount falls far short of what they are owed with the potential of months-long delays before they receive a penny.”
Under Unifor’s collective agreements with HBC, some members are entitled to upwards of $35,000 in severance, depending on wages, seniority, and other factors like commissions.
Unifor is urging all levels of government to take legislative action that ensures workers are not treated as afterthoughts in corporate financial dissolutions.
“Unifor will continue to call out this injustice, defend workers, and demand accountability,” said Payne. “We’re not going away. We’ll keep fighting until every worker receives what they’re owed.”
Unifor’s understanding is that the pension plan is currently in surplus position, which is positive news for members at this difficult time. Unifor will be advocating for members to receive their fair share of any surplus in the pension plan.
Unifor continues to call for urgent reforms to federal insolvency laws to better protect workers, including raising the WEPP cap, expanding super-priority protections, imposing liability on directors for unpaid compensation, and creating a mechanism to ensure workers are made whole through trust-held funds or federal guarantees
Unifor Locals 40 and 240 represent approximately 595 HBC employees at stores in Windsor, Kitchener, and Toronto’s Sherway Gardens, as well as workers at the company’s e-commerce warehouse.
Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.
For media inquiries please contact Unifor Communications Representative Paul Whyte at @email or by cell at (416) 549-6546.
