Walmart warehouse workers in Canada win first North American contract

A 93 percent ratification at Walmart’s Mississauga warehouse gave Unifor its first North American contract with the retailer and put specific wage and staffing rules in place for about 800 workers. The two-year agreement covers the distribution hub at 7295 West Credit Avenue, a facility that feeds stores across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.

The biggest gains are concrete. Workers won wage increases of up to $5 an hour in year one, followed by another 3 percent in year two. The deal also includes a me-too clause, which means Mississauga members are protected if Walmart offers higher warehouse wages elsewhere in Canada. For workers at other Walmart sites, that clause is the kind of language that can turn one local contract into a companywide benchmark.

The agreement also limits the use of short-term agency workers, a point that went to the heart of the organizing drive. Unifor said those workers had been used in ways that cut into full-time opportunities and overtime for permanent staff. That makes the staffing language as important as the pay raise: it gives the union leverage over how much of the operation is run with temporary labor, not just what workers earn per hour.

The contract also settles an unfair labour practice complaint with a lump-sum payout ranging from $4,250 to $8,750, tied to denied wage increases. That kind of back pay matters because it converts a dispute over fairness into cash in workers’ pockets, while also setting a precedent for how wage issues can be resolved when a warehouse wins recognition and bargaining rights.

The organizing campaign began in December 2023. By summer 2024, more than 40 percent of workers at the Mississauga site had signed union cards, the Ontario Labour Relations Board authorized a vote, and workers voted Sept. 10-12, 2024 to join Unifor. Unifor has said the Mississauga warehouse was Walmart’s first warehouse to unionize in Canada, and the new contract is now being treated as the first union agreement negotiated with Walmart anywhere in North America.

For Walmart workers elsewhere, the most important takeaway is not the label attached to the deal but the structure inside it. A wage ladder, a protection against falling behind other sites, and limits on temporary labor are the terms that travel. If other warehouses push for the same package, this Mississauga agreement becomes less a one-off and more a working template.