July 20, 2023

Following the recent contract ratification vote, as per the Memorandum of Agreement, please be aware of the following;

Retroactive Pay

All full-time employees hired prior to May 23, 2017 will receive a retroactive payment based on $2.00 per hour for every hour worked since January 29, 2023. 

All full-time employees hired after May 23, 2017 will receive a retroactive payment based on $1.00 per hour for every hour worked since January 29, 2023.

Members should see this payment on the pay period of July 20, 2023.

Please note the following:

1. Anyone off on WI or LTD at any time during the period of January 29, 2023 to June 28, 2023 will only be paid retroactive pay for actual hours worked on the floor.
2. Anyone who is currently off on WI or LTD will receive the retroactive payment when they return to work at 80 hours regular duties.
3. Anyone who was off on WI or LTD during the entire period from January 29, 2023 to June 28, 2023 is not entitled to retroactive pay. 

Health & Welfare – Appendix B.15

Massage service has been added to chiropractic and physiotherapy effective August 1, 2023.

Article 11 – Vacations

Amend 11.01 (e) to read:

(e) Each employee who, as of September 30th in any year, has been employed for fifteen (15) years or more but less than twenty-five (25) years shall be entitled to five (5) weeks vacation with pay provided that one (1) of these five (5) weeks shall be taken during the months of January to May and/or September 1 to November 15th, at a time to be selected by the employee, subject to the approval of the Company;

This improved vacation entitlement will be effective January 1, 2024. Those members who have achieved 15 years’ (but less then 25) full-time service as at or before September 30, 2024 will be awarded 5 weeks’ vacation effective January 1, 2024.

Boot Allowance

Boot Allowance has increased to $150.00 effective August 31, 2023.

Extra Day Overtime

This will be paid at one-and-one-half (1 ½) times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked on Extra Day.

Personal Days

Effective June 28, 2023, any unused Personal Days are to be paid out at the end of November. Members should no longer be compelled to use their personal days.

Wage Increase

Effective January 31, 2024 all members at the end rate will receive a $1.00 per hour wage increase 

Should you have any questions, please speak with your Stewards or contact your Union Representative, Ric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (416) 522-7542

June 28, 2023

After three presentations to the membership, on Wednesday June 28, members working at the Maple Grove Distribution Centre voted in favour of the Memorandum of Settlement (MOS) reached on June 22, 2023.

The settlement was reached after 6 days of bargaining with the company, and was unanimously recommended by your union negotiating committee.

Highlights of the settlement include:

• Immediate wage increase (end rate wages for those hired before May 23, 2017) of $2.00 retroactive to January 29, 2023, with an additional increase of $1 effective January 31, 2024
• Immediate wage increase for those in the wage progression of up to $6.00 per hour
• $7.25 per hour wage increase to the end rates during the first 6 years of the agreement
• Introduction of massage therapy for benefits
• 12-year job guarantee for the term of the agreement
• Early Retirement Package offered in each year to anyone who reaches 55 years of age (cap of 40 in 2024 and 30 in future years)
• Premiums increased and added to the CBA – afternoons $1.00 / nights $2.00 / freezer $2.00
• Five weeks vacation after 15 years, down from 18 years
• Boot allowance increase to $150 effective 2023 with further increases to $225
• Pay out of unused personal days at the end of each year
• Improved Health and Safety language

Should you have any questions, please speak with your Stewards or contact your Union Representative, Ric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (416) 522-7542

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June 23, 2023

After 6 days of negotiations, your union negotiating committee has reached a tentative Memorandum of Agreement with your employer.

Presentation of the tentative Memorandum of Agreement along with a ratification vote will take place as noted below;

Wednesday June 28, 2023

DoubleTree by Hilton Kitchener
30 Fairway Road South, Kitchener
Ontario Ballroom “B & C”

Presentation Times:

• 7:30 am – 10:00 am
• Noon – 2:30 pm
• 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Should you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please speak with your Stewards or contact Ric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (416) 522-7542

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May 31, 2023

On May 29, 2023, your negotiating committee met to review and discuss contract proposals in preparation for negotiations. Thank you to all members who submitted proposals online. The items discussed at the May 18 membership open house, along with the submitted proposals will be used for the Union’s proposal document during negotiations.

On May 30, 2023, your negotiating committee met with representatives from the company in an effort to learn more about the East Gwillimbury and South Caledon Distribution Centres and the impact they will have on our members at Maple Grove.

With East Gwillimbury scheduled to open in late 2024 and South Caledon two years later, the company reconfirmed that both facilities will be fully automated and will be able to handle dry goods, produce and frozen goods. As we shared during the membership open house meetings, the company again restated that as a result of the new facilities, Maple Grove will see a reduction in volume at some point and ultimately, a closure. 

As a result of this information, the union and company have agreed to begin negotiations early. It is the goal of your negotiating committee to ensure that Maple Grove remains an integral part of their distribution network for as long as possible and achieve the best possible outcome during these negotiations.

Your negotiating committee and the company have scheduled to meet for negotiations on June 15, 16 and 19 – 23, 2023, a total of 7 days.

Please remember that emotions are running high, with increased stress and anxiety. It is important to only discuss the facts that we have at our disposal. Please refrain from engaging in rumours, assumptions, and misinformation. 

Should you hear information that concerns you, please contact your Steward or Union Representative as soon as possible.

Further updates will be provided as they become available.

Should you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please speak with your Stewards or contact Ric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (416) 522-7542

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May 19, 2023

On May 18, 2023, your local union, along with your stewards, held the “open house” for members at Maple Grove to discuss the company’s announcement of the proposed Distribution Centres in East Gwillimbury and South Caledon.

Thank you to all who attended one of the 3 presentation sessions and for all of your input.

A main agenda item was a discussion regarding proposals for upcoming negotiations. Your stewards presented an overview of proposals that they feel are extremely important to the membership at your workplace. Participants were given the opportunity to offer any other issues/proposals that are important to them.

If you were unable to attend one of the meetings, have your say by clicking on the link below to complete a proposal form and submit to your negotiating committee. Deadline for submission is Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 4:00 pm. If you have completed a hard copy of the “Negotiation Proposal Form,” ensure you submit it to your union steward by the deadline.

CLICK HERE FOR PROPOSAL FORM.

This morning, the union reached out to the company and was able to confirm Tuesday, May 30 to meet. We are hopeful to learn their plans for Maple Grove within their distribution network, as a result of the announcement of the new DC’s.

Your negotiating committee will be meeting on May 29 to review and discuss all submitted proposals.

This is an emotional time for many. We understand that the “unknown” can cause stress and anxiety. As a result, it is extremely important to only discuss the facts that we have at our disposal. Please refrain from engaging in rumours, assumptions and misinformation. Should you hear information that you are not sure of, let your steward or union representative know as soon as possible.

Further updates will be provided as they become available.

Should you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please speak with your stewards or contact Ric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (416) 522-7542

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May 11, 2023

Your local union has scheduled a membership “open house” to discuss the company’s announcement of the proposed Distribution Centres in East Gwillimbury and South Caledon.

Meeting Details

Thursday May 18, 2023

Doubletree by Hilton Kitchener
30 Fairway Road South, Kitchener (Google)
Waterloo Ballroom “C”

Presentation Times:

• 7:30 – 10:00 am
• Noon – 2:30 pm
• 3:45 – 5:30 pm 

Earlier this week, your union contacted the company in an effort to determine their interest in meeting with your negotiating committee to discuss the recent announcement and its impact on the existing Loblaw distribution and supply facilities.

As of the posting of this update, the union has not had a response from the company. We are hopeful to have an answer for you at the membership meeting.

Please be aware of rumours, assumptions and unconfirmed information, as they can poison a workplace and cause undue stress and anxiety on our membership. Please refrain from engaging in the spreading of rumours and misinformation as it only hurts those you work with. 

We understand that there has not been a lot of information available to date. As a result, it is extremely important to only discuss the facts that we have at our disposal.

Further updates will be provided as they become available.

Should you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please speak with your stewards or contact Ric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (416) 522-7542

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May 6, 2023

Following the announcement last week by Loblaw regarding their land lease for a future distribution centre in Caledon, below is an update of what your union has been doing in response to the news.

An email was sent to the stewards last week from your union representative, informing them that as a result of the announcement the union would be seeking a meeting with Loblaw officials to discuss their plans for, not only this new facility in Caledon, but also the proposed facility in East Gwillimbury and the affect they would have on our Maple Grove members.

A meeting was held on Tuesday, May 2 where the union posed numerous questions to the company with very little response. Loblaw did reconfirm that both DC’s would be automated facilities and that they were investigating their options for operating them with a 3^rd party, however, no decision had been made as of yet.

Your union contends, as per the Maple Grove collective agreement, that UFCW 1006A would be the bargaining unit for workers at any new facilities. Loblaw disagrees with this and as a result we have filed a grievance which has been referred to arbitration. As additional pressure, the local has filed an unfair labour practice application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board. 

On Friday, May 5, Executive Assistant to the President, Dan Gilbert and your Union Representative, Ric Pereira, met with the Maple Grove stewards to discuss these issues.

The number one priority is to determine what affect these new facilities will have on members at Maple Grove. With limited information coming from Loblaw and knowing that we have begun preparations for the upcoming negotiations at the end of the year, the concept of early bargaining was discussed. 

In an effort to learn what the company’s plans and timelines are for the new facilities and more importantly how the Maple Grove DC fits into their future plans as quickly as possible, your stewards endorsed the idea of your union making the request of early bargaining to the company. 

In preparation, should Loblaw agree to early bargaining, the stewards took the opportunity and elected Peter Tabor, Derek Roussy and Jay Martin to join Tim Rozman, Tom Micallef and Jamie MacNaught along with Ric Pereira and Dan Gilbert as your bargaining committee. 

The local is also looking to schedule a membership meeting as soon as possible to have a conversation with you about these new developments and the possibility of early bargaining.

Should the company decline the request for early bargaining, then the local will continue to put pressure on them for further information and will proceed as normal with the intent to begin bargaining in and around October. 

Further updates will be provided as they become available.

Should you have any questions or concerns in the meantime please speak with your stewards or contact Ric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | ‭(416) 522-7542‬

Fleet: Union Stewards Update

June 21, 2023

We have received 7 nominees for the 3 steward positions. 

• Jeff Bailey
• Stephen Beilstein
• Dustin Dzaman
• Leonard Farraway (declined nomination)
• Joshua Pavlovich
• Ervin Rembeci
• JanWillem Werdekker

Should you have any questions or concerns please contact Ric Pereira at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-522-7542. 

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Fleet: Union Stewards Update

June 16, 2023

As per your Collective Agreement, your union has the right to appoint or otherwise select 4 regular stewards and 1 chief steward.

At the membership meeting where we discussed the process for nominating and electing your negotiating committee, it was decided that negotiating committee members would become your stewards once the Collective Agreement was in place.

This is especially important for first agreements as negotiating committee members have first hand knowledge of the language and its intent within the agreement.

As a result, negotiating committee members Scott Johannes and Scott Spears have been appointed as stewards, leaving 3 vacancies to be filled.

If you are interested in becoming a steward, please register your interest using the form below by Tuesday June 20 at 3:00 pm.

If more than 3 individuals are interested, an election will take place.

If there are 3 or less interested, those individuals will be appointed as stewards.

Once 5 stewards are elected/appointed, these stewards will then elect a Chief Steward amongst themselves.

Should you have any questions or concerns please contact Ric Pereira at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-522-7542.

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Fleet: Tentative Memorandum of Agreement Reached

April 11, 2023

Following numerous sessions of bargaining, your union committee, consisting of members Scott Spears, Scott Johannes and Union Representative Dustin Magee, have reached a tentative memorandum of agreement (MOA) for a first collective agreement with your employer.  

A ratification vote has been scheduled for Sunday April 16, 2023 at 10:00 am – Copetown Community Centre, 1950 Governors Rd., (East of Highway 52) Copetown, ON 

The committee will present the MOA for your review with a ratification vote to follow.

Please plan to attend this important vote.

Note: Negotiations for the Plant are ongoing. We will update members once a tenetative agreement is reached for the Plant.

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November 26, 2022: 

As the employer continues to stand firm on their position to exclude workers from Waste Water in the bargaining unit, our legal counsel has been gathering information to assist us with our filing to include them at the Labour Board.
 
The employer has agreed to have Christina Traks represent the Waste Water workers on the union’s negotiating committee during bargaining.
 
We will continue our efforts during negotiations to have these workers included in the bargaining unit, while at the same time building the case at the labour board.
 
Union Representative Dustin Magee has secured the following dates for the union negotiating committees to meet in preparation of negotiations:

 
Fleet – Thursday, December 8
Plant – Thursday, December 15
 
The union will make the necessary requests of the employer for the committee members to have the respective day off with pay.
 
Committee members will be notified of the meeting location once it has been secured.
 
To learn more about the negotiations process, visit our Negotiations FAQ.

November 14, 2022:

Union Representative Dustin Magee will be the lead negotiator for your union’s committee for negotiations with your employer. Dustin is an experienced negotiator and has successfully secured a number of first union contracts. 

Ric Pereira will continue to be your union representative for workplace issues and will assist with negotiations as needed.

Dustin has reached out to your employer in an effort to secure negotiation dates in December. Our goal is to schedule a number of consecutive dates to advance the process as quickly as possible.

Once dates have been secured, Dustin will schedule a meeting with your committee members to discuss and review a first collective agreement draft proposal.

Your negotiating committees are as follows;

Fleet – Scott Spears & Scott Johannes
Plant - James Flowers, Jason Davies & Peter Traks (Christina Traks will act as support from Waste Water)

To learn more about the negotiations process, visit our Negotiations FAQ.

Darling Bargaining Committees

October 14, 2022:

Thank you all for participating in the nomination and election process for your respective negotiating committees.

And thank you to all those who accepted nomination for a position to be part of the process.

Your negotiating committees are as follows;

• Fleet – Scott Spears & Scott Johannes
• Plant - James Flowers, Jason Davies & Peeter Traks (Christina Traks will act as support from Waste Water)

The next step will be to reach out to the employer to secure a number of dates to begin bargaining.

As bargaining proposals have been submitted by you, a “first contract” will be drafted for review and discussion by the respective committees.

To learn more about the negotations process, visit our Negotiations FAQ.

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October 11, 2022: 

Our last update informed you that we would be conducting an election for the final position for the Plant negotiating committee.

One member from the Maintenance department would be elected, from 2 nominees, to join James Flowers and Jason Davies on the committee.

Since that message, one of the nominees from Maintenance has declined nomination.

As a result, Peeter Traks has been acclaimed to the position and will join James and Jason as your bargaining committee.

I will be reaching out to the employer to secure dates to begin bargaining.

As planned, we will conduct an online vote for the Fleet membership to elect 2 members from the 9 nominated. Fleet members will receive a text which will allow them to vote on Wednesday, October 12 at 1pm.

Again, thank you all who have participated in this process.

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October 7, 2022: 

As discussed at the membership meeting in September, your union was hoping to be able to negotiate the Plant and Fleet agreement together, with 6 members on the committee.

The membership had agreed that the committee would have representation as follows:

• Fleet – 2 members
• Plant – 2 members
• Maintenance – 1 member
• Waste Water – 1 member

In discussion with the employer, they are not willing to negotiate the Fleet and Plant together as the two groups were separately certified as two bargaining units.

The employer will also not recognize a member from Waste Water on the committee as these members were excluded from the bargaining unit. On a side note the union will be arguing at the labour board that these members should be included.

As a result, your union will negotiate the Fleet group and the Plant group separately.

For the Fleet group, 9 members were nominated for the negotiating committee. All those nominated have accepted their nomination.

We will conduct an online vote for the Fleet membership to elect 2 members from the 9 nominated. Fleet members will receive a text which will allow them to vote on Wednesday, October 12 at 1pm.

For the Plant group, we are now looking at 3 members with one of them representing the Maintenance group.

4 members were nominated from Maintenance. 2 of those nominees declined nomination, leaving 2 members on the ballot for 1 to be elected.

3 other members were nominated from the Plant, outside of Maintenance. One declined nomination and as a result, James Flowers and Jason Davies have been acclaimed to fill the 2 Plant positions on the committee.

We will conduct an online vote for the Plant membership to elect 1 member from the maintenance group. Plant members will receive a text which will allow them to vote on Wednesday, October 12 at 1pm.

One member, Christina Traks, from Waste Water was also nominated. Although she cannot participate formally during negotiations, she will be consulted to support and represent the members in her department throughout the process.

Thank you for your patience throughout this process and rest assured we are eager to begin negotiations on your behalf.

To learn more about the negotations process, visit our Negotiations FAQ.

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UFCW 1006A members will be happy to serve you at the below Swiss Chalet locations:

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"Everyone deserves to have a voice, and we are proud that you are considering taking the step to unionize."

Support for our @BamazonUnion is rolling in! The @NFLPA is standing in solidarity with us and urging us to vote #unionYES! Check out messages of support from @JCTretter, @Michael31Thomas and @onemangang97, below, and full update here: https://t.co/SQxfwfDxrk #1U #Union pic.twitter.com/DCv0ZjBjCP

— BAmazonUnion (@BAmazonUnion) January 25, 2021