Workers at a key Metro Inc. distribution centre in Quebec have overwhelmingly rejected the company’s latest contract offer, extending a nearly three-month labour dispute.
Members of the union representing 550 Metro employees voted 95 per cent against the proposal at a general meeting held Thursday morning, according to the CSN.
The workers — which include warehouse workers, office employees and transport staff at the grocery chain’s fruit and vegetable distribution centre in Laval and the company’s Montreal head office, as well as the drivers at a warehouse in Rivière-des-Prairies — have been on strike since March 30 after negotiations over a new collective agreement broke down. Their previous contract expired in September 2025.
“After twelve weeks of strike action, the workers do not want to accept a cut-rate settlement. Even though we were not legally obligated to do so, we presented the employer’s latest offer and the members strongly rejected it,” Matthieu Lafontaine, president of the union local, said in a statement.
The Laval facility, the grocery chain’s only fruit and vegetable distribution centre in the province, supplies about 300 stores operating under the Metro, Super C and Marché Richelieu banners.
Union leaders argue Metro can afford to meet workers’ demands after several years of strong financial performance.
Serge Monette, president of the Fédération du commerce-CSN, said that Metro’s sales have increased significantly since 2019.
“The money is there, and the employees want their fair share,” he said.
Last month, the union filed a complaint with Quebec’s labour tribunal after government investigators concluded that Metro had used illegal replacement workers during the strike.
Employers in Quebec are prohibited from hiring strikebreakers — also called scabs — while employees are engaged in a legal strike.
Two government investigators concluded that eight Metro managers had violated the province’s anti-scab provisions at the Laval distribution centre, according to a report from April.
The union is seeking an order requiring Metro to stop using replacement workers, along with $10,000 in damages.
Metro has denied the allegations. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the union vote.
In a statement issued after the complaint was filed, the company said it had complied with Quebec’s labour code and implemented measures to continue serving customers across the province during the work stoppage.
With files from The Gazette’s Jack Wilson