OTTAWA -- A Liberal MP is pushing to have parliamentarians grill major grocery chain executives on their decision to cancel wage increases for their front-line workers, despite soaring profits amid the ongoing pandemic.
The motion asks that the committee invite "representatives from Loblaw Companies Ltd., Metro Inc. and Empire Company Ltd. to explain their decision to cancel, on the same day, the modest increase in wages for front-line grocery store workers during the pandemic, including how those decisions are consistent with competition laws."
MPs will debate the motion during this Thursday's meeting of the House of Commons committee on Innovation, Science and Technology. Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith — the man behind the motion — expects it will be adopted, as he said both a Conservative and an NDP MP who sit on the committee expressed their support during Monday's committee meeting.
The executives would have to agree to the invitation to appear before the committee, as Parliament does not have the power to force them to do so.
The three grocery giants, Loblaw, Metro and Sobeys, had been paying their employees a premium for continuing to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping shelves stocked and people fed despite the personal risk they faced by working on the front lines.
Loblaw's Chairman Galen Weston confirmed the extra two dollars per hour his employees had been receiving would be coming to an end in a newsletter sent to customers last week.
"As the economy slowly reopens and Canadians begin to return to work, we believe it is the right time to end the temporary pay premium we introduced at the beginning of the pandemic," Weston said.
"Things have now stabilized in our supermarkets and drug stores. After extending the premium multiple times, we are confident our colleagues are operating safely and effectively in a new normal."
Metro confirmed in an emailed statement sent to CTVNews.ca that it is following suit, and will also be ending its pay premium for employees.
"We are no longer working under the crisis conditions that prevailed from March through May as grocers were amongst the only retailers open to the public. Demand is stabilizing as other business are reopening," Geneviève Grégoire, Metro's Communication Manager, said in the email.
She noted that the company will be paying a $200 bonus to full-time employees, and $100 to part time staff, on July 2.
Sobeys also sent a letter to their employees on June 12 confirming their plans to end what they called their Hero Pay program.
"As provinces execute their reopening plans and customer behaviour shifts, we felt that this was a natural time to end our Hero Pay program," said the letter, which was signed by Sobeys CEO Michael Medline and Sobeys Chief Human Resources Officer Simon Gagné.
The letter promises to pay a one-time bonus to employees — though it doesn't say how much that bonus will be — and to launch a Sobeys employee discount program.
Unifor represents 20,000 retail and wholesale workers, including some at Loblaw. They slammed the decision to end the wage boost.
"The pandemic is not over. The danger has not passed. These workers are no less at risk and are no less essential today than they were yesterday. There is no justification for ending pandemic pay now, or ever," Unifor National President Jerry Dias said in a release last week.
"Loblaw knows the risk is not over. It's just trying to boost profits on the backs of its most vulnerable workers, and that’s just wrong."
Loblaw has said that it will be paying its workers a one-time bonus in July as the wage boost comes to an end. The bonus, according to Unifor, amount to roughly $160 for a full-time worker.
Meanwhile, Loblaw has seen its profits jump 21 per cent in the first quarter compared to the same time last year — an increase in net earning of $42 million over the first quarter of 2019.
Sobey's parent company, Empire Co. Ltd., said in an April 15 press release that it had seen a sales surge of 37 per cent in March. Metro also enjoyed a boost in sales, according to their own press release from April 22. In the first two weeks of March, Metro Inc. reportedly saw an estimated $125-million sales increase.
With files from CTV News Toronto's Joshua Freeman
