900 Metro employees in Etobicoke to go on strike

Workers at a Metro Distribution Centre in Toronto are on strike after rejecting a tentative agreement with the company.

More than 900 Metro warehouse workers are on strike after rejecting a tentative agreement with the company.

According to a news release issued Saturday, the full-time employees work at a distribution centre in Etobicoke that supplies products to grocery stores across southern Ontario.

The workers have been without a contract since October 2021, officials say.

A tentative agreement between the union—Unifor Local 414—and Metro was reached on April 1, but on the following day members chose not to ratify it.

The details of the collective agreement were not released, however a union representative previously said employees were hoping that their hard work throughout the pandemic would be reflected in “wages, pensions and benefits.”

“The members have final say on the tentative agreement and have opted to turn down this offer,” Unifor Assistant to the National President Chris MacDonald said in a statement.

“The bargaining committee is ready to resume negotiations in the hope of bringing this strike to a speedy end.”

Metro Ontario Inc. said in a statement that it is disappointed with the employees' decision to strike considering the fact that the union bargaining committee unanimously recommended the settlement.

"The settlement provided significant increases for employees, including an increase of six per cent on average to hourly wages in the first year of the agreement and a total of 14 per cent wage increase over four years as well as pension and benefits improvements," a spokesperson said while adding the company is ready to go back to the table.

"We have implemented our contingency plan and our stores will remain open to serve our customers"

Last week, workers voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate if a collective agreement was not reached by April.