The Militant - April 24 2017 -- Canada bread workers strike over
far-reaching attacks
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 16 April 24 2017
Canada bread workers strike over far-reaching attacks
BY JOE YOUNG
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Some 160 workers are picketing at the
Canada Bread plant in Langley near Vancouver. Members of the Bakery,
Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union Local 468 voted
to strike after the company locked them out on April 1.
“This is not really about money. They are trying to strip our seniority.
The owners want to be able to send workers home after only two hours
work,” Carl Fraser, vice president of the local, told the Militant on
the picket line April 8. “They want to take benefits away from workers
who are on call. They call you three times and if you aren’t available
within 30 minutes you can be terminated. They didn’t bargain. They just
said ‘Take this.’”
Canada Bread was bought in 2014 by Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest
baked goods conglomerate, based in Mexico. The owners also locked out
120 union members at their Laval, Quebec, distribution center.
“I believe the company representatives started out with the intention of
us being out here today,” Glenda Brownie, who has worked for the company
for 27 years, told the Langley Advance. Unionized truck drivers and
engineers are refusing to cross the picket line. Workers from Safeway, a
big food store, have come by to give support. There is constant honking
as cars
go by.
Related articles:
NZ meat workers fight against nonunion individual contracts
Truck drivers across Russia strike over gov’t taxes
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