“We made history in Canada”

Workers at a Walmart warehouse in Mississauga, Ontario, have voted last week to form a union at their workplace. This is the first Walmart warehouse to join a union in Canada. 

Between 800 and 900 workers are currently employed at the retail monopoly's warehouse in Mississauga. They perform picking, packing, and maintenance work. The workers' victory comes after Unifor's nine-month-long campaign at the facility, which started in December 2023. 

"This victory is the result of uniting around a belief in workplace democracy and better working conditions,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne in a media release. “Walmart workers in Mississauga stood up for their rights, and we are excited to get to work on their first collective agreement.”

"We made history in Canada," said Rodolfo Pilozo in an interview with The North Star. Pilozo has worked at the warehouse for 29 years. 

Over 40% of the workers at the warehouse signed a union card this summer. This allowed Unifor to submit an application to the Ontario Labour Relations Board, which authorized a vote for unionization at the warehouse. A majority of the workers at the warehouse voted in favour of joining Unifor last Thursday. 

Justin Gniposky, Unifor's director of organizing, previously told The North Star that workers at the warehouse have four main concerns: health and safety, work-life balance, job security, and real wage increase.

"Walmart can do better"

In his conversation with North Star, Pilozo shared his motivations to fight for unionization. "We [had to] educate people about the union. I had to educate myself." Pilozo has witnessed firsthand how working conditions at the warehouse rapidly worsened over the last few years, particularly with respect to health and safety.

He explained that "Most of the time, we tend to go over the number of injury cases Walmart forecasts. [Workers] have shoulder, neck and back problems, but to Walmart, it's all just about the numbers. Once you get injured, they look at you like you are nothing, and you have to come back to work, even if it's just to sweep the floors." 

Pilozo explained that the workers previously used to get two breaks and one lunch during their eight hour shift. Walmart changed its policies so workers only got one break and one lunch. Then Walmart changed the hours in a daily shift from 8 to 10 hours. While workers did get their second break back during the 10 hour shift, Pilozo explains that the schedule change "was just imposed on us...I believe if we had [union] representation, it would have been a lot different."

"They changed our schedules from 8 hours to 10 hours. This change was just imposed on us. Before these changes, we used to have two breaks and one lunch. Now they changed it so that we only have one break and one lunch. I believe if we had [union] representation, it would have been a lot different," explained Pilozo. 

Pilozo reported that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of living increased, but wages remained stagnant or increased at a sluggish rate. "Walmart can do better. We want to at least catch up with the cost of living," he stated. 

Walmart's panoply of union-busting tactics

Workers are hopeful that unionization will allow them to bargain for better work conditions. However, the campaign to unionize was not without its challenges.

Since December 2023, Walmart management made significant efforts to dissuade workers from unionizing. Their tactics included spreading misinformation about the union, intimidating workers, failing to renew their contracts, and even trying to buy workers out through small perks at work. 

"The notoriously anti-union company did their best to spread falsehoods about the protections of a union, but workers saw through the thinly veiled intimidation and chose unity over fear and division," said Unifor in its statement. 

Pilozo confirmed that this was the case. "They were saying that the unions make false promises, but the union has never promised workers any money. All they said is that they can sit at the bargaining table and help us on our wages, for better benefits, better pension plan, even try to bargain for retirees." 

Since Pilozo was actively involved in the unionization campaign, management kept a "close eye" on him. "If I went to another department and somebody called me to ask a question, they would page me right away. They would keep me confined to my work area." 

Walmart management also reportedly retaliated against new workers on short-term contracts who signed union cards. "Once management started to see that some of these workers were signing the cards to get the 40%, they did not renew their contracts," shared Pilozo. 

When the intimidation, spreading of misinformation, and retaliation against workers failed, Walmart management tried to pacify the workers through perks. 

"It wasn't until this year that we started getting all these barbecues and free ice cream. [They would ask us], 'How can I help you?' 'Do you need more hours?' They even got a single couch for people to sit and relax in and a machine to play video games in the cafeteria. So I'm just wondering, are we still going to have barbecues and free ice cream?" 

The vote to form a union with Unifor will be certified by the Ontario Labour Relations Board before the workers can elect a bargaining committee. Walmart may try to fight the certification, as it has in the past when its workers have tried to unionize.