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Unifor held its inaugural Retail and Wholesale Workers Conference from March 13 to 15 in Port Elgin.
Themed “Realizing Our Power Potential”, the conference brought together Unifor members in the retail wholesale sector from across the country. Participants in the conference discussed ways the union can develop a program for action to strengthen our bargaining power and break down barriers that have constrained retail workers in the past.
The retail and wholesale sector is one of the largest in Unifor. With more than 20,000 members working in retail stores, supermarkets, food warehouses, drug stores, wholesaling outlets and others across Canada, they not only represent a key constituency in the union, but also represent Canada’s single largest employment industry.
“This is an industry plagued with low-wages, erratic work schedules, high turnover and lack of meaningful training opportunities among other significant issues,” said Jenny Ahn, Assistant to the President with responsibility for the retail sector.
In a panel discussion on building worker solidarity within the retail wholesale sector Mark Armstrong, President of Local 468, said that we need to look at our collective agreements and how employer tactics have weakened solidarity in our workplaces.
“We need to look at how employers attempt to divide and conquer the workers when bargaining,” said Armstrong, pointing to the different bargaining priorities for part-time and full-time workers.
“We must also think sincerely about how to bridge the divide young workers may be feeling. When we accept two-tiered agreements, we undermine our solidarity,” said Armstrong.
