Striking workers want more from employers, unions amid string of failed deals: experts

A recent string of rejected tentative agreements across the country is a sign that workers are expecting more from their employers, and their unions, experts said.

A recent string of rejected tentative agreements across the country is a sign that workers are expecting more from their employers, and their unions, experts said.

“Pre-pandemic, union members were content with wage increases that more or less kept pace with inflation,” said Larry Savage, a professor in the labour studies department at Brock University. But the pandemic, inflation and low unemployment have combined to create a heightened environment for union militancy, he said.

Last week, workers at 27 Metro grocery stores across the Greater Toronto Area rejected a tentative agreement that had been reached just after a strike deadline.

The workers had gone into bargaining with a 100 per cent strike vote, and chose to walk off the job Saturday to fight for more instead of accepting the deal.

Kim Coughlin and Samantha Henry, two Metro employees and members of the bargaining committee, said the tentative deal they reached was the best the group has ever achieved — but it wasn’t enough for the 3,700 workers who are dealing with the skyrocketing cost of living, and who still remember working through the COVID-19 pandemic and having their $2-an-hour `hero pay’ taken away.

For many members, that hero pay is what they’re trying to get back with this agreement, said Coughlin.

Metro has said it’s “extremely disappointed” that Metro workers decided to strike instead of voting for the agreement, which the company said provided “significant increases,” as well as improved pension and benefits.

Meanwhile on the other side of the country, B.C. port workers also recently rejected a proposed agreement from a federal mediator — but another tentative agreement was reached shortly after and will be brought to workers for another vote by Friday.