FOG BLOG RETAIL LOG: TORONTO'S METRO GROCERY STORE ON STRIKE, STRIKE ENTERS IT'S 3RD DAY!

Metro workers vow to stay off job 'as long as it takes' as strike enters 3rd day

27 stores closed for duration of strike but pharmacies remain open, Metro Ontario says Front-line grocery store workers at Metro, who are into their third day of a work stoppage, vowed on Monday to stay off the job until they get a fair deal from the company.

More than 3,000 store workers at 27 Metro locations in the Greater Toronto Area began strike action on Saturday after rejecting a tentative collective agreement reached last week between the company and their union — Unifor.

"We want the company to come back and give us a fair deal," Tammy Laporte, a produce and fruit clerk, told CBC Toronto outside a Metro location on Danforth Avenue.

"We're on strike because we want fairness from our company. We want Metro to pay their workers what they're worth and we'll stand out here as long as it takes."

Unifor Local 414 represents some 3,700 grocery store workers across the GTA.

Wages are top issue

Unifor said stores affected by the strike include those in Toronto, Brantford, Orangeville, Milton, Oakville, Brampton, North York, Islington, Willowdale, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Newmarket and Scarborough.

Laporte, who has worked with Metro for 25 years, said wages are the top issue for the workers.

"We want more money. They make great profits and we want to share in the benefits," she said.

Another worker, Austin Coyle said a "lack of respect" from Metro led to the strike.

Coyle struggled to hold back tears as he told a CBC reporter he's unable to make ends meet on his current pay.

"I'm living in debt at the moment. I can't afford my two-bedroom apartment. I live in Scarborough. I have an eight-year-old daughter. You know, it's not affordable. It's not," Coyle said.