Think about just completing a 10-14hr shift, and trying to make it home to see your children before they fall asleep for the night. Unfortunately, due to backed up traffic on the 400 series highway you are often delayed and aren’t able to make it home in time. This is a common experience for delivery truck drivers in general, but Loblaws Maple Grove Distribution center drivers face another hurdle in that they are not compensated correctly for the extra hours that they work. Moreover, due to this lack of sufficient compensation many Loblaws delivery drivers also work a second job to make ends meet and to provide for their households, even after completing these long work shifts. Continually, Loblaws refuses to acknowledge the arbitrators decision between the Drivers Union and Loblaw’s management, and has filed for the Ontario Divisional Court to retract the decision for overtime work compensation (Merali, 2019).
In 2010, Union UFCW 1006A representing the drivers entered into collective bargaining and signed a new contract with Loblaws to provide overtime pay after 60hrs a week are worked by drivers (Merali, 2019). Although, the Employment standards Act suggests that overtime pay must be distributed after 44 hours of work. Loblaws found a way to circumvent the ESA guideline by arguing that the drivers from the Cambridge distribution center are exempt from ESA rules, due to their categorization of the highway transport driver which allows overtime to only initiate after 60 worked hours (Transportation, 2019). The impact this tactic has on many drivers affects their ability to sustain a healthy lifestyle due to the strain these long shifts have on workers lives without adequate compensation. Continually, younger (entry level) drivers are payed the least making it even more difficult for them to sustain a positive lifestyle based on their compensation forcing them to have a second job to support themselves. The Ontario Divisional Court must support the ESA’s guidelines in this case to effectively compensation Ontario workers from this distribution center to ensure they are compensated correctly for their work.
Which side do you feel upholds greater strength in this arbitration, and how do you Loblaws management can support workers from this distribution center without incurring great losses?
Sources:
Merali, F. (2019, September 23). ‘They can do better’: Loblaws violated labour laws in Ontario, still isn’t paying overtime to drivers | CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/loblaws-delivery-drivers-arbitration-decision-overtime-1.5287007
Transportation. (2019, October 21). JavaScript is required to view this site. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/document/industries-and-jobs-exemptions-or-special-rules/transportation
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