Toronto area Metro workers ratify second tentative agreement after month long strike

TORONTO – Metro workers from 27 stores in the Greater Toronto Area have a new collective agreement after a month-long strike, the union said.

The workers represented by Unifor voted to ratify a second tentative deal just two days after Metro was granted a temporary injunction restricting secondary picket lines that blocked fresh product deliveries to its stores.

Unifor spokesman Paul Whyte said in a statement that under the new five-year deal, all workers will get an immediate raise of $1.50 an hour.

He said full-time and senior part-time workers will essentially receive a $2-an-hour pay increase within months, as they will get an additional 50 cents in January.

“Workers made it abundantly clear that they needed to see real wage gains in the first year of the agreement to address the affordability issues they currently face, which is exactly what we accomplished in this new contact,” said Unifor Local 414 president Gord Currie in a statement.

More than 3,700 workers had been on strike since July 29 after rejecting the first tentative agreement recommended by their bargaining committee.

Throughout the strike, the workers called for the so-called hero pay they received during the pandemic to return, as well as better working conditions and more full-time jobs.

“This is a historic collective agreement that sets a new bar for grocery store workers,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne.

The union did not release details on what percentage of workers voted in favour of the agreement.