Grocery Workers Talk Poverty Wages and Pandemic Profits

By Michelle Paquette and Doug Yearwood, YCL-LJC members in Ottawa

This article was originally published in Rank and File

After large private sector grocery retailers introduced pay increases for frontline workers, Herb & Spice—a locally owned and operated grocery store in Ottawa— announced that its employees would receive a $1.50/hour hazard pay increase. Unlike other grocery stores who have committed to maintaining the pay increase until the pandemic subsides, this employer is only delivering hazard pay for a single pay period.

By the Numbers: Retail jobs and the Canadian economy

Statistics via the United Food and Commercial Workers Union complements of www.revolutionizingretail.org

- Retail salesperson/clerk is the most common occupation in Canada.
- In 2010, the Canadian retail industry represented total consumer sales of $443.2 billion.
- Cashier is the second most common occupation for Canadian women.
- 1 in 8 Canadian workers is employed in retail/wholesale – about 2.7 million people.
- Across industrialized countries, retail workers constitute about 10% of the labour force.
- Wage earners of all ages work in retail. There is a relatively high proportion of young workers, yet 4 in 10 retail workers in Canada is over the age of 45.
- 2/3 of all workers in retail are women.
- Currently about 13% of retail workers in Canada and about 5% in the United States are unionized.