Pete’s Frootique Employees Unionize
HALIFAX – The employees of Pete’s Frootique & Fine Foods have unionized in what they describe as a landslide victory.
The announcement was made earlier this month in a tweet from SEIU Local 2, the union representing Pete’s employees. SEIU Local 2 has more than 18,000 members from across Canada and represents workers from essential industries like education and janitorial.
In a landslide victory the workers at Pete’s Frootique & Fine Foods (Downtown Halifax) — a subsidiary of Canadian food retail giant, @sobeys — have won their union! ✊✊✊This is a massive win for workers who are fed up with stagnant wages and skyrocketing inflation! pic.twitter.com/jjGflPkwqV
— SEIU Local 2 (@seiulocal2can) March 7, 2023
Tyson Boyd is a cashier supervisor at Pete’s. He’s one of the employees who helped with union organization. He said that the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted some of the conditions that the employees are fighting to change.
“Overall, morale got kind of low and the idea went around of like, ‘what if we band together and we fight for more?’,” said Boyd.
Matching the cost of living
Boyd says the main point of the union is to fight for increased wages as the cost of living in Halifax continues to rise. He said most Pete’s employees live in the city and are afraid of losing their homes.
Paul Wyke is a spokesperson for Empire Foods, which owns Pete’s, along with several other grocery chains, including Sobeys. Wyke said in a statement to Huddle that EMpire believes there was a better option than a union.
“While we think that the use of a third party to represent our employees is not the best path forward, we of course respect our Pete’s Frootique Halifax teammates’ decision and will continue in good faith to participate in the bargaining process with them. We know that when we work together, we can always find common ground,” said Wyke.
Throughout the process of creating the union and the early phases of bargaining negotiations, Boyd says that representatives from Sobeys have been cooperative with union members.
A sea of change
“Nobody seems outwardly hostile to the idea that I should be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment or anything,” said Boyd.
The two sides will meet in a few months for their first bargaining discussions. Boyd is optimistic that these discussions will bring about change and improve the lives of Pete’s employees.
“The tide is rising in Halifax and these kinds of jobs, like working at Pete’s, have been kind of stuck where they’re at, and if we can get it to float and we’ll all survive,” said Boyd.
Joe Thomson is a Huddle student intern, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected]