Walmart workers win their first contract in North America!
Workers at Walmart in Mississauga, Ontario, begin union drive in September 2024 that succeeded this summer. / Unifor via twitter.
The two-year contract that some 800 warehouse workers in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada — organized by Unifor Local 252 — just won from Walmart is a first in North America. Mississauga is part of metropolitan Toronto, located on Lake Ontario.
The workers in the warehouse had contacted Unifor, because they were looking for a union to fight the Walmart bosses. Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union with about 300,000 members.
Walmart has built its reputation on low prices, sophisticated logistics and an aggressive, strenuous and vicious opposition to worker organizing.
But the 800 warehouse workers got a two-year contract giving them a $5-an-hour raise (Canadian dollars) plus a grievance procedure. They also got a “me too” provision that gives them any raise that Walmart might dole out to unorganized warehouse workers in Canada as a tactic to avoid unionization.
The workers will get a one-time payment ranging from $4,250 to $8,750 to settle an unfair labor practice dispute over Walmart giving raises to other warehouse workers while bargaining with Local 252. The agreement will increase full-time jobs and overtime for regular staff by imposing a cap on the employer’s use of short-term workers.
Some 93% of members approved the contract. An organizing campaign succeeded with workers’ union certification in 2024.
With changes to the connections between the consumption of goods and their production brought about by the internet, Unifor organizers believe that a high-volume distribution center or warehouse is much more difficult to replace or relocate than a single store. This means they become choke points, strategically more vulnerable to workers’ actions.
Unifor’s victory at Walmart has obvious implications for Amazon, a company that generates over $1 trillion (Canadian) — or $717 billion (U.S.) — in annual sales that has a similar logistics strategy. The fact that this contract was achieved through bargaining, not imposed under Ontario’s labor law, which is more favorable to unions than U.S. state laws, makes this victory even stronger.
(Current exchange rate as of Sept. 20, 2026: $1 Canadian = $0.71 U.S.)
For a more detailed article see First-ever-contract. (readthemaple.com, June 15, 2026)
