CAMBRIDGE, ONT. – Workers at a massive Loblaw Companies distribution warehouse in Cambridge, Ontario have voted to stay with UFCW Canada (United Food and Commercial Workers Canada).
UFCW Local 1000A members at the National Grocers Maple Grove distribution centre in Cambridge voted on Tuesday to keep their longstanding union and to reject a campaign by the Canadian Autoworkers Union to represent them.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board-conducted vote came as a result of an application by the CAW to displace UFCW Local 1000A as the bargaining agent for the more than 800 employees at the Maple Grove Distribution Centre – the largest in the National Grocers chain.
"This victory belongs to the members at Maple Grove," says local president Kevin Corporon.
“We have worked very hard for many years to earn the trust and loyalty of National Grocers employees. We appreciate their show of support and we will continue to support them with the best contracts in the industry and the strongest protection against unfair labour standards.”
In addition to the Maple Grove workers, UFCW Local 1000A also represents 1,700 more employees at four other National Grocers food distribution warehouses in Cambridge and Mississauga, and more than 20,000 workers at the various Loblaw Companies throughout Ontario.
UFCW Canada has more than 230,000 members across Canada, with members working in every aspect of the food processing, warehousing and retail sectors. According to UFCW Canada’s national director Michael J. Fraser, the Maple Grove vote shows that workers want a unified voice in dealing with Canada’s largest grocery chains.
“This is a great victory for UFCW Local 1000A, and for UFCW Canada. Workers want solidarity, not divisiveness,” said Fraser. “Now let’s turn our energies back to where they belong – servicing our members and organizing the unorganized.”
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For more information or to arrange interviews contact:
Michael Forman, UFCW Canada Communications
(416) 675-1104 x249 [email protected]