Metro’s warehouse and headquarters employees continued their strike demanding better wages Monday as fruit and vegetable shortages hit grocery store shelves in Montreal.
More than 550 workers at Metro Laval distribution centre, the headquarters and the Mérite warehouse in RDP, belonging to the Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des épiciers unis Metro-Richelieu-CSN, took to the picket lines after voting to reject the grocery giant’s salary increase proposals.
The distribution centre supplies fruit and vegetable to some 1000 Metro group stores like Metro and Super C throughout Quebec.
In a press release, the union said, the company offered them an 11 per cent raise over five years, including one per cent annual raises for those in the lower salary grades.
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Matthieu Lafontaine, the union’s president, said the members were angry and accused the company of not coming to the negotiating table.
“Inflation over the past few years has been very hard on our members. We have become considerably poorer, while the Metro Group has multiplied its profits by taking advantage of rising grocery costs,” Lafontaine said.
The union said the workers were demanding a significant pay hike compared to the previous collective agreement negotiated before the pandemic, since when inflation has hit hard. Workers are also demanding better working conditions and an end to outsourcing of drivers.
Serge Monette, president of the Fédération du commerce-CSN, said the profits of Metro Group had risen considerably higher than the employees’ wages.
“In six years, revenue has risen by 28 per cent, profits have increased by 39 per cent, and dividends to shareholders by 56 per cent,” Monette said. “Employee wages over the same period? Only 11 per cent.”
Given the company’s financial situation, the company must pay higher, said Bertrand Guibord, president of the Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain-CSN.
“At Metro, the starting wage is around $20 an hour. A pittance compared to the exorbitant profits made in recent years. Being offered between one and two per cent a year is insulting,” Guibord said.
