Frontline staff at Metro have ratified the terms of a historic work agreement ending a month-long walk-out that began on July 29.
The new deal applies to 3,700 frontline grocery workers at 27 Metro stores across the GTA, with terms set to come into full effect over the coming months.
The agreement includes a $2.00 per hour pay increase for full-time and senior part-time staff, as well as an immediate upfront wage hike of $1.50/hour for all full and part-time employees.
Unifor described the wage improvements as historic. “Getting more money in workers’ pockets faster to ensure that future annual wage improvements significantly compound over time,” was a key term of the agreement, Unifor said in a statement on Thursday.
The new deal will see an overall wage increase of $4.50 an hour for full-time and senior part-time workers and $3.20 for non-senior part-time workers, over the duration of the contract.
READ MORE: Metro reaches tentative deal with staff after month-long walkout
New hourly wage rates will reach $25.05/hour for full-time clerks. Part-time clerks will also receive significantly higher wages — “improvements that some frontline grocery workers describe as life-changing,” Unifor’s statement said.
The agreement also includes a new sick leave program for part-time employees, enhanced benefits and pensions, a new standardized work week for full-time workers, more stable scheduling including additional guaranteed weekends off for some classifications, and job protection from the implementation of self-check-outs, Unifor confirmed.
Metro said “it remained committed to bargaining in good faith and made every reasonable effort to present a serious offer to meet the needs of its employees and its business,” Senior Vice President, Joe Fusco confirmed in a statement on Thursday.
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The contract sets a new precedent for grocery store workers, one that was achieved thanks to “the perseverance and unwavering solidarity of the union, as well as incredible community support,” Lana Payne, Unifor national president said.
“As a union we know the unique time we are experiencing in our fight for workers and we are determined to seize that moment as we continue to organize for better for workers everywhere,” Payne concluded.
