logo
CN Tower workers ratify new contract with employer, ending two-week lockout

CN Tower workers ratify new contract with employer, ending two-week lockout

TORONTO - The union representing hospitality workers at Toronto's CN Tower says members have voted to ratify a tentative agreement with the employer, ending a two-week lockout.
Unifor Local 4271 members voted in favour of the new agreement with Canada Lands Company, the federal Crown corporation that owns and operates the iconic tourist attraction.
The union represents more than 250 food and beverage workers at the CN Tower, including hosts, wait staff, bartenders, chefs, cooks, butchers and other hospitality employees.
The workers were locked out just before Canada Day.
The CN Tower says it's 'pleased' to have an agreement on the new contract, which means its food establishments will reopen on Tuesday.
The union says the new three-year collective agreement includes significant wage improvements.
It says workers who don't earn gratuities will receive annual increases of 4.25 per cent, while gratuity earners will see raises of four per cent in the first year, followed by 2.5 per cent in each of the next two years.
The new agreement also includes improvements to health and dental benefits, gratuity policy and annual retirement allowances, the union said.
'This contract focuses on our members' priorities, including fair pay and better working conditions in one of Canada's top tourist destinations,' Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi said in a statement.
Unifor is Canada's largest private-sector union, representing 320,000 workers across the country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2025.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

What happens next after union certification at Amazon warehouse in B.C.
What happens next after union certification at Amazon warehouse in B.C.

Yahoo

time4 days ago

  • Yahoo

What happens next after union certification at Amazon warehouse in B.C.

There are fears that Amazon may pull out of its B.C. operations after a recent Labour Relations Board (LRB) ruling confirmed union certification at a Delta, B.C. warehouse. The LRB recently rejected the U.S. megacorporation's attempt to overturn a previous ruling that granted certification to workers that had signed union cards at the facility, which employs hundreds of people. That previous ruling had found that Amazon had ramped up hiring dramatically to dilute union support, in a move that was characterized as an unfair labour practice by the LRB and was heavily criticized by the Unifor union. While Amazon said it intends to further appeal the latest decision, the progress on unionization has led to fears the company may pull out of B.C. — as it did in Quebec, following the unionization of a warehouse in Laval, Que., in May 2024. Labour experts said the latest ruling is part of a long-running pattern of anti-union activity by Amazon, though much is up in the air over whether the company could pull out of B.C. entirely, given the province's labour laws. "We're certainly always concerned about that. We've reached out to the government to always strengthen the laws," Gavin McGarrigle, the Western regional director for Unifor, said of the prospect of Amazon pulling out of B.C. "We've pointed to the situation in Quebec. We're not going to put up with any of that. We're going to throw everything we have at this." An Amazon spokesperson said the company would determine its next steps after an appeal and that it did not have further comments on its future in B.C. Company historically anti-union: prof. In B.C., if more than 55 per cent of eligible workers at a facility sign union cards, union certification is granted automatically, while if the cards represent at least 45 per cent, a vote may be called instead. The LRB had previously granted Unifor certification through a rare remedial order that's used when employer misconduct compromises the integrity of a vote. It came after Amazon brought in 148 new employees between March and June 2024 — a period that overlapped with two certification attempts by Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University, said: "The Labour [Board] basically found that Amazon had behaved in such an egregious way, in trying to prevent its workers from unionizing, that it's made any kind of fair election or certification procedure impossible." Supriya Routh, an associate professor at the University of B.C.'s Allard School of Law who studies labour and employment law, said Amazon has historically been anti-union at their workplaces. "Their union-busting activities are taken as a badge of pride," he said. "But I don't think in the Canadian context that kind of a policy, that kind of an approach, will work — because I don't think it goes well with Canadian sensitivities. "If Amazon wants to do business in Canada, which I do think they have a lot of reasons to do, they'll have to adhere to laws and the legitimate expectations of workers in Canada." What B.C.'s labour laws say Eidlin and Routh both say that B.C.'s labour laws will soon mandate that the two parties negotiate a collective agreement, or have an arbitrator impose an agreement on them. That could mean a ticking clock on when the Unifor union in Delta gets a contract, which would represent a first for a North American Amazon warehouse — but also the possibility of the company pulling out as it did in Quebec. Amazon has steadfastly maintained that its decision to pull out of that province was over cost reductions and efficiency, and it decided to use third-party carriers to provide savings for customers. Eidlin said it may be harder for Amazon to continue to serve the B.C. market if they entirely pull out of the West Coast, saying the company was able to fill the gaps in Quebec through services in Ontario, and the logistics may be more complicated in B.C. According to the professor, while there is limited legal recourse for when a private company ends its operations in a province, B.C. still had a legal framework that aims to defend the core Canadian values of allowing workers dignity and respect at work. "If that's under attack, it's something that should be defended," he said. "It's not something that should be, sort of, jettisoned in the name of competitiveness or something like that." Amazon adds value to local economy: study When Amazon announced the opening of its Delta, B.C., facility in 2018, it had estimated at the time that more than 700 jobs would be created as a result. The company's 2023 impact report stated it has 10,000 full-time and part-time employees in B.C. A paper by Evan Cunningham, a PhD economist at the University of Minnesota, looked at the expansion of Amazon warehouses across the U.S. It found that the company's entry into a metro area in that country had increased the local employment rate by one per cent and average wages by 0.7 per cent. "Actually, most of the jobs created as a result of Amazon's entry are actually not at Amazon warehouses themselves," Cunningham told CBC News. "I find significant positive spillovers across the entire labour market ... these warehouses also created opportunities within construction, within restaurants, within administrative services and also information technology." Cunningham noted, however, that Amazon's entry into an area also saw local housing prices go up, which could actually exacerbate income inequality. "Homeowners see a significant improvement in their wealth as a result of those rising home values," he said. "For renters, on the other hand, the improvements in the labour market are almost completely offset from those higher costs of living."

Amazon's bid to overturn B.C. labour ruling on workers' unionization rejected
Amazon's bid to overturn B.C. labour ruling on workers' unionization rejected

Yahoo

time06-08-2025

  • Yahoo

Amazon's bid to overturn B.C. labour ruling on workers' unionization rejected

VANCOUVER — British Columbia's Labour Relations Board has rejected a bid by e-commerce giant Amazon to overturn an earlier decision that awarded union certification to workers at a facility in Delta, B.C. In a new decision dated Tuesday, a Labour Relations Board panel ruled that it agrees with the board's original decision in July that ordered remedial certification due to Amazon ramping up hiring "in order to thwart the union's certification application." The panel says evidence presented by union Unifor showed "a deliberate decision by the employer" to increase its employee roster to dilute union support during its membership drive. The decision also says the move for Amazon to intentionally pad its employee list and then using it to argue that union does not meet the threshold for certification "is manipulating the employee list in order to avoid certification." Amazon had applied for the Labour Relations Board to reconsider its original July decision, and the latest decision says the company argued that the last board panel had erred in applying labour laws to the case — as well as in it awarding remedial certification to the union. The company had argued that evidence showed "there was an operational need for additional staff" while what was described as a "pervasive anti-union campaign" was protected by employer free-speech rights. The panel, however, disagreed. "In our view, the original decision adopts the correct approach which is to consider the employer's conduct as a whole," the decision says. Citing precedent, the panel wites, "We note that the kinds of activities in which the employer engaged in the present case are the 'classical hallmarks of an interference in the formation or selection of a trade union.'" The panel says that Amazon's move to "knowingly and improperly" pad the employee list is "sufficiently egregious" to justify its original decision to order union certification. "From our perspective, the intentional padding of an employee list for the purpose of undermining an organizing drive is an even more fundamental attack on its employees' associational rights," the latest decision says. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Unifor National president Lana Payne says the decision is a "message" to B.C. employers to not interfere in unionization "or to suffer the consequences." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025. The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

$1.2B lumber aid package won't be enough, says B.C. forestry union leader
$1.2B lumber aid package won't be enough, says B.C. forestry union leader

Yahoo

time06-08-2025

  • Yahoo

$1.2B lumber aid package won't be enough, says B.C. forestry union leader

Gavin McGarrigle, the Western regional director of UNIFOR and a member of the B.C. Softwood Lumber Advisory Council, says he is concerned the $700M in loan guarantees and $500M for diversification will not be enough to support laid-off workers and needed investment in softwood lumber facilities. While he welcomes the money, he tells BC Today host Michelle Eliot there should have been more consultation with unions and direct support for workers.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store