MONTREAL — With the support from union leaders, workers from Dollarama will protest against their wages and working conditions on Thursday afternoon in northwest Montreal.
The workers are accusing the Montreal retail giant’s management of abolishing, on Aug. 2, the COVID-19 risk premiums of 10 per cent to store employees and the increase of $3 per hour to warehouse workers, which both began in March. The premiums were given out because of the risks associated to working with the public amid the pandemic.
Disgruntled workers argue that cancelling the wage premium is unethical in part because the pandemic is ongoing and they are therefore still at risk, and in part because Dollarama is generating enough revenue to raise employee wages permanently, they say.
The protest will begin at 2:15 p.m. in front of the De la Savane metro station.
During the quarter that ended on May 3, Dollarama made a profit of nearly $86.1 million. Compared to the same quarter in 2019, the average transaction size increased by 22.6 per cent, but the number of transactions decreased by 17.9 per cent, as consumers went out less often, but spent more during their visits.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2020.
