Over 400 workers strike at Highbury Canco in Leamington after failed contract talks over wages

Highbury Canco workers strike Hundreds of workers at Leamington’s largest employer are walking the picket line over wages. Sijia Liu has details.

More than 400 unionized workers are on strike at the Highbury Canco plant after rejecting a final offer from the company on Saturday.

According to the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW), roughly 80 per cent of its members at the Leamington-based food processing plant shot down the offer.

The final offer included wage increases and monetary improvements of 28 per cent over the four-year deal. It also addressed shift premiums, overtime rules and benefits.

"It's an offer that we're fairly proud of," said Sam Diab, president and CEO of Highbury Canco.

"It was an offer comprised of significant wage increases. It was front-loaded for the first year to help take into account the inflation we've all been experiencing. It was an agreement that had no concessions whatsoever."

The UFCW says workers didn't feel the increases were enough given the current rate of inflation, climbing interest rates and the overall rising costs of living.

"People are losing their houses to mortgages. The rent increases in the last few years are phenomenal in our area. It's very difficult to make ends meet," said Scott Jackson, UFCW local 175 chief steward.

According to Diab, under the proposed contract, entry-level workers will make roughly $19.50/hour and pay will increase to over $20/hour by the second year.

According to the UFCW, 70 per cent of its members currently make less than $19/hour.

"I believe if we can increase our hourly wage and improve our overtime language, this contract would go through," said Jackson, UFCW local 175 chief steward.

Diab believes the offer they put forth was fair and drastic increases to wages will put the business in jeopardy.

"We're not in a spot where we can go above and beyond. We understand why people are frustrated. We can't be in a spot where we put dollars in wages that we can't sustain ourselves. We're going to be out of business or we're going to lose contracts, it doesn't help anybody," said Diab.

During the strike, roughly 200 full-time employees will continue to work at the plant.

"Our intentions are to keep the operations as smoothly as we can to keep our customers happy, so that there's work for everybody to come back to," said Diab.

The contract for employees represented by UFCW Local 175 expired in Dec. 2022.

The two sides have not set a date for further negotiation and there is no indication how long the strike may last.

"The union has made an offer to sit down and amicably discuss the situation," said Jackson.

Workers at the Highbury Canco manufacture tomato-based food and beverage products under an umbrella of different brand names.

The plant was formerly owned by Heinz and is the largest employer in Leamington.

With files from CTV News Windsor’s Rich Garton.