Gift cards for Metro employees

Leah Levsky
The Canadian Press

Last week, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (TUAC), an affiliate of FTQ, represented thousands of new bonuses to their employees by tightening instructions that many grocers, including Metro, were asked to pay.

Such bonuses are often paid at $ 2 per hour during the first wave of coronavirus in the spring. With the exception of a few owners they usually end in June.

When asked about this on Tuesday, Metro management refused to respond to a request made by UFCW for a “contingency bonus” for its workers at grocery stores and distribution centers.

However, she suggested that she give gift cards to her workers. Full time holders receive a $ 300 card; $ 150 card working for at least 15 hours and $ 75 card for those working less than 15 hours.

Affected employees will be given gift cards in February and they will be valid for purchases at metro stores.

That’s fine, but …

UFCW expressed some satisfaction with the Metro decision. “What is important to us is that regardless of the bonus formula chosen by the employer, our members will receive a monetary benefit throughout the contingent.

However, the UFCW union called on other major food owners, Provigo and Olimel, to do more for their frontline workers.

“We are very disappointed with the companies that have refused to give detention bonuses to these workers who are at the forefront of feeding Quebec families and providing them with the goods they need for their well-being,” the affiliate said. At FTQ.

These workers earn between $ 14 and $ 15 per hour. The minimum wage in Quebec is 10 13.10.

The UFCW says they “put pressure on the bargaining tables” to increase their members’ compensation so that their work is “recognized for its fair value at all times rather than in times of crisis.”