Nearly 70 Unifor members working across the food and retail warehouse sector met for a strategy session November 28–30 in Toronto.

The meeting was called to assemble key local activists to discuss building capacity in the sector with the goal of improving standards for all. Priority issues included wages, benefits, workload, and the growing threat of unchecked automation in the workplace.

Unifor National President Lana Payne joined remotely, offering solidarity and inspiration during a time when employers are consolidating and flexing their own power: “We are fighting global giants and we are winning. But we must continue to fight because warehouse workers everywhere are watching this moment. They are counting on all of us.”

Participants heard a presentation on the Organizing Department’s recent work in the sector and a discussion was held about strategies for increasing union density within the sector. Presentations were also delivered by representatives from Unifor’s research, pensions & benefits, and legal departments as well as newly elected Retail Council Chairperson Doug Gray and the Council executive committee. Participants were also supported by the attendance of Unifor National Executive Board members Gord Currie and Guy Desforges.

Members spent significant time during the weekend discussing tactics for coordinating upcoming bargaining and fighting back against a growing list of challenges presented by unregulated technologies and greed driven by corporate headquarters.

“Warehousing is essential, but the pressures are real: automation and AI, safety concerns, unpredictable scheduling, intense corporate consolidation, and now the added strain of U.S. trade disruptions,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi. “If we don’t define the future of these jobs, corporations will. And we all know what that looks like.”