UFCW Canada, the union that represents workers at grocery stores and warehouses across Canada operated by Loblaw Companies Limited is calling on the company to honour its labour contracts and to stop ignoring its labour relations obligations. The union is insisting that the company recognize all workers’ basic rights.

Loblaw Companies Limited is Canada's largest food retailer operating under a number of banners including Loblaw, Zehrs, Real Canadian Superstore, Atlantic Superstore, No Frills, Fortinos, Extra Foods, Wholesale Club, Maxi, and Provigo.

According to Wayne Hanley, the national president of UFCW Canada, "across this country Loblaw is systematically embarking on a campaign of failing to respond to the grievances of our members and in many cases is unreasonably delaying the resolution of matters. It is as if workplace relations have disappeared in the struggling company."

Hanley's comments followed a meeting of the UFCW Canada Retail Council yesterday. The council is made up of the leadership of the UFCW Canada local unions that represent the Loblaw-banner workers across Canada, including UFCW Canada Locals 1000A, 175, 1977, 1518, 247, 401, 1118,  832, 1400, 500R, 501, 1991P, 503, 486, 1288P, and 864.

The Retail Council meeting was convened to discuss the state of the retail food industry in Canada and quickly became consumed with discussions surrounding Loblaw's flagrant disregard of the various collective agreements covering the terms and conditions of employment of its workers, as well as its hostile positioning in advance of negotiations for new collective agreements for its stores in western Canada.

"Loblaw has become a company that seems to have lost its direction and focus going forward into the future," said Hanley. "Its actions and the attitudes exhibited by senior management and those at the store level have become poisonous to the notion of a co-operative relationship between the company and its employees. That's not good for Loblaw or its customers and it's not good for the shareholders including the Weston family."

"UFCW Canada is not willing to tolerate such acts by Loblaw to circumvent and undermine our representational rights," said Hanley.

"Our local unions from coast to coast will be vigorously enforcing their collective agreements with the company and if the company's combative mood continues our union will respond leading up to negotiations in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and British Columbia, as well as in Alberta where negotiations are approaching a critical stage."

"In preparation for further action, we are also reviewing the company's recent decisive conviction under Alberta's labour laws of violating workers' rights to free association without coercion, intimidation, or harassment."

"We're in this for the long haul and so should be Loblaw. We encourage the company to act in good faith and to resolve our mutual problems in the interest of our members employed by the company and in the long term interests of the business."

Throughout the coming year of 2008, UFCW Canada Local 500R, our largest local union in Québec, will be celebrating four decades serving its members in the province.
In a message to members, Local 500R President Antonio Filato notes that both he and Secretary-Treasurer Robert Armstrong (pictured) are “proud to have been a part of Local 500R for more than 30 of its 40 years of existence as we both became actively involved in 1974 and 1975 respectively, first as members, then as union stewards, moving on to become union staff representatives, and finally officers.”

The local was established in April 1968 when activists in the retail and food industries voted to merge their independent associations, creating a real union that became a local in the Retail Clerks union.

 The dialogue between UFCW Canada and Mexico on behalf of migrant Mexican agriculture workers employed in Canada continued in a series of meetings held recently in Mexico.

This latest delegation to Mexico furthers the relationship with Mexican officials and labour groups established by UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley.

Over the past 14 months, meetings have been held in Mexico and Canada, and UFCW Canada hosted a Mexican government fact-finding commission that travelled to Canada last June.

"In our meetings, we continued to raise UFCW Canada's concerns about the conditions faced by Mexican workers under the CSAWP," Brother Hanley says.

"We further assured the ministry that UFCW Canada is committed as an ally to these workers in seeking resolutions to the challenges they face while in Canada."

Today, April 28, is the National Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job. Established in 1984 by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), it has been adopted around the world as the UN Day for Safety and Health at Work. The day of mourning is sombrely celebrated across the country with ceremonies highlighting the carnage that continues to take place in Canadian workplaces, and in various ways around the world.

“Carnage” is an apt term to describe what remains a growing trend on the job. Despite increased attention focused on the issue in the last 24 years since the day of mourning was founded, more than 25,000 Canadian workers have died, and nearly 25-million have been injured at work. Yes, accidents happen, but they are nearly always preventable. Employers have to be held accountable for working conditions.