A women walks past the new rebranding sign of Freedom Mobile in Toronto, on Nov. 24, 2016.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Teamsters Canada says retail and call centre workers at Freedom Mobile across the country have unionized after a six-month organizing drive and negotiated their first collective agreement.
Teamsters national president François Laporte says the union negotiated an immediate two-per-cent bonus for all members and ensured four-per-cent annual pay increases for the next four years.
In May this year, Teamsters said the Freedom Mobile workers had expressed interest in unionizing after Shaw Communications Inc. agreed to sell Freedom Mobile to Quebecor’s Videotron.
The sale was a condition of the merger between Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw.
In a news release Monday, Laporte says the employer did not oppose its organizing campaign, taking “a more progressive approach to labour relations.”
He says there has never been more interest in joining a union in the aftermath of the pandemic and in the face of rising inflation.
“This is a clear sign that the tides are shifting, and workers are ready to organize for a better deal from employers. If it can be done at Freedom Mobile, it can be done anywhere,” says Laporte.