'Historic': Canadian warehouse workers sign first-ever union deal with Walmart

Source: The Guardian

Union says collective agreement is just the start of a broader fight to unionize major employers across the country

Leyland Cecco in Toronto Sat 6 Jun 2026 07.00 EDT

Canadian warehouse workers have signed the first-ever collective agreement with Walmart, a breakthrough labour organizers are calling a “historic and powerful step”.

But the union says the deal with a corporation long hostile to organized labour is only an opening salvo in a broader fight to unionize major employers across the country.

In May, workers in Mississauga, Ontario, signed a contract with Walmart, the world’s largest employer, that includes a pay bump, guarantees over working conditions and a lump sum payout to settle allegations of unfair labour practices.

“These members were determined to have workplace democracy and they stuck with it,” said Lana Payne, president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union. “Their courage and determination, their decision to be part of a collective bargaining table with one of the biggest corporations in the world, is why they made labour history.”


Members of Unifor rally outside a Walmart in Canada on 10 September 2024. Photograph: Unifor Canada

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/06/canada-walmart-first-union-deal?CMP=share_btn_url