Ontario Nurses’ Association expresses solidarity with 3,700 striking Metro workers

On behalf of its 68,000 members, the Ontario Nurses’ Association is expressing solidarity with 3,700 front-line Metro grocery workers who began strike action on Saturday, July 29.

The workers, represented by Unifor, are calling for better compensation from their employer, which has raked in record profits while grocery workers are being nickelled and dimed, facing increased precarity and eroded job quality.

“Both grocery workers and health-care workers showed up every day of the pandemic to meet the needs of Ontarians, at great risk to our own health and safety,” says ONA President Erin Ariss, RN. “Grocery workers deserve their fair share of record profits, and nurses and health-care professionals stand with them against corporate greed.”

ONA is echoing the call for respectful compensation for grocery workers, many of whom are struggling to afford food, rent and other necessities, even as their employer’s profits soar.

The job action follows workers’ rejection of a tentative agreement. The workers – members of Unifor Local 414 – have formed picket lines at each of 27 Metro stores in the Greater Toronto Area.

ONA is encouraging its members and the public to join picket lines and show solidarity with grocery workers. Metro stores impacted by the strike include those in Toronto, Brantford, Orangeville, Milton, Oakville, Brampton, North York, Islington, Willowdale, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Newmarket, and Scarborough.