Dominion workers reach agreement to end the 12-week strike



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Striking Dominion workers across the province voted on the new deal offered by parent company Loblaw. The final ratification voting meeting will take place on Friday. (Curtis Hicks / CBC)

Dominion workers in Newfoundland and Labrador ratified a new collective agreement, ending a 12-week strike in stores across the province.

This is an update of the latest news. An earlier version of this story is below.

Striking Dominion workers are casting their final ratification votes on a final offer from parent company Loblaw on Friday, as they close their 12th week on the picket line.

The province’s 1,400 workers have been on strike since Aug.22, after Loblaw ended the $ 2 an hour wage increase for essential workers during the pandemic.

Participants in the picket are also demanding more full-time jobs and wage increases.

Unifor, which represents Dominion’s workers, says over 80% of Dominion’s workers are part-time. The union also claims that 60 full-time jobs were converted into part-time positions last year.

Friday’s vote comes the day after Loblaw posted a nearly 7% increase in profits in the third quarter of 2020, with Loblaw chairman Sarah Davis saying the company “continued with its winning streak in the year. 2020 “.

Revenue for the 16-week period ending October 3 was $ 15.67 billion, up from nearly $ 14.66 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

This week the province’s 1,400 striking Dominion workers voted to ratify the picket line. (Unifor / Twitter)

Loblaw’s latest offer to workers came Saturday through provincial-appointed broker Wayne Fowler.

That offer came several weeks away from the negotiating table – where union negotiator Chris McDonald said Loblaw hasn’t made any significant improvements to their original offer.

Workers have been voting on ratifying the latest offer throughout the week, with the final meeting taking place Friday in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Vote counts will be made available Friday evening, according to Unifor Local 597.

Unifor is also pursuing its lawsuit against the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary for an incident when police responded to a picket line at Weston Bakery in Mount Pearl on October 27.

Kyle Rees, a lawyer representing Unifor, told CBC Radio In movement No further injunctions were issued last week against places where striking workers can protest, after Loblaw obtained an injunction to ban picketing at the company’s Mount Pearl distribution center in October. The matter is expected to return to court on Monday.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

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