August 22, 2020

ST. JOHN’S– Unifor Local 597 members at Dominion grocery stores across Newfoundland will begin strike action at 10:01 p.m. Saturday August 22, 2020.

“Our Dominion members do not take this decision lightly. They would much rather be serving their communities but as frontline workers they felt they could not accept the contract put forth by the company,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.

The workers, who have been without a contract since October 2019, voted to overwhelmingly reject the contract offer from Dominion’s parent company Loblaw Companies Limited.

“There were gains in some areas but in the end the monetary offer fell short, last month Dominion clawed back two dollars an hour pandemic pay from their workers then offered just half of that back over the entire life of the three-year contract,” said Dias.

In 2019, Dominion eliminated more than 60 full-time positions at Newfoundland stores. Currently more than 80 % of the workers are part-time, with low pay and limited access to benefits, and have not received a pay raise since the spring of 2018.

“These are the very workers who supported us all during this pandemic and I hope that the public will support them now,” said Unifor Local 597 President Carolyn Wrice.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector and represents 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.