Canadian Warehouse Workers Sign Historic Union Deal with Walmart

The Historic Union Deal

Canadian warehouse workers have signed the first-ever collective agreement with Walmart, a breakthrough labour organizers are calling a “historic and powerful step”.

Details of the Agreement

In May, workers in Mississauga, Ontario, signed a contract with Walmart, the world’s largest employer, that includes a pay bump, guarantees over working conditions and a lump sum payout to settle allegations of unfair labour practices.

• Workers at the high-volume distribution warehouse – which serves one of the biggest markets for Walmart in Canada – first decided to unionize in 2024.
• It took two years before both sides agreed on a contract.

The Impact of the Deal

“These members were determined to have workplace democracy and they stuck with it,” said Lana Payne, president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union.

The victory came amid a deliberate strategy by the union to target parts of the business workers that could exert the most influence.

The Future of Labor Organizing

Unifor has already opened a second front in its battle: an Amazon facility in British Columbia, a province where laws are friendlier to organized labour.

Recently, British Columbia’s labour board found that Amazon unlawfully withheld scheduled wage increases from workers at the facility, despite giving raises to every other Amazon facility in the region.

The Road Ahead

Jim Stanford, an economist and director of the Centre for Future Work, said Amazon and Walmart were among companies that have huge power over pricing – not only over consumers, but also what they pay suppliers and workers.

“There’s an incredible contradiction between [Walmart] being one of the largest, most profitable companies in the world, and many of its workers having to turn to food banks because they can’t buy groceries,” Stanford said.