Fairness for Zellers Workers petition filed with Quebec National Assembly

Two Zellers workers are joined by a TUAC Québec delegation in the gallery at the Quebec National Assembly, for the filing of a petition asking Target to respect the rights of Zellers workers.

Québec City, QC – June 14, 2012 - A province-wide petition has been filed in the Quebec National Assembly, calling on the provincial Minister of Labour to require Target to comply with the Quebec Labour Act, and guarantee that workers at 35 Zellers stores in Quebec have the right to continue their employment — with their current seniority, salary and benefits — when Target takes over their store.

The petition was sponsored by Québec Solidaire MNA Amir Khadir, with over 3,300 signatures collected from an online petition posted on www.targetnosdroits.ca, as well as the website of the National Assembly. Khadir was joined at the National Assembly by two Zellers workers, as well as representatives from TUAC Québec.

The petition is part of a larger public awareness campaign supported by TUAC Québec that includes billboard and bus shelter posters in a number of Quebec cities, including Lévis, Rimouski, St-Georges de Beauce, St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières.

"People in Quebec expect Target to be a good neighbour when they come here. That means respecting the rights of Zellers workers and the Labour Code," says Antonio Filato, president of TUAC Local 500. "We will continue to stand by all Zellers workers in Quebec – unionized or not – whose experience, labour rights, and job security must be acknowledged."

The petition filed with the Quebec National Assembly was just the first installment. Signatures continue to be collected and will be delivered to the Quebec Minister of Labour when the National Assembly reopens in September following a summer recess. The petition can also be downloaded at www.targetnosdroits.ca.

Outside Quebec, UFCW Canada is supporting Zellers workers in their "Ask Target for Fairness" campaign — online at www.targetfairness.ca — and through a national billboard and bus shelter advertising campaign.