askTO | Ask Torontonians Questions

274 readers

1 users here now

A community for people to submit questions to Torontonians about Toronto and receive constructive responses.

INFO

Please be civil
No spam

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Why are some stores like whole foods allowed to stay open on labor day while others can't (self.askto)

submitted 9 months ago by Son_of_dad to c/[email protected]

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I had a couple of sick kids all week so I didn't get a chance to grab some essential groceries all week, now that I have a chance I look online and it seems only the whole foods and rabba are the ones that are open today. Those are the two I usually avoid because of their ridiculous prices, so I was wondering why the cheaper places don't open, and if it has anything to do with Ontario law.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Then why are you at work on a holiday?

Because I get a different day off in lieu, that's what I just told you.

Removing worker choice is kind of the whole point of a union. That is how it gains its strength.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. A untions strength comes from collective action and bargaining, not the removal of choice. You don't happen to be an official at UFCW, do you? Because that's exactly the kind of bullshit I'd expect to hear from those corrupt turds. "You don't need a choice because I already made it for you!"

What is the explanation, then?

I don't know. But if it's not all the stores in the local, then it definitely didn't come from the union, and workers are not allowed to act collectively outside the union. So it must have a been a corporate decision.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

A untions strength comes from collective action and bargaining

Yes, the single desk. If you give employees choice then they will offer greater and greater concessions towards the employer (accept lower pay, accept fewer holidays, accept more dangerous working conditions, etc.) to beat out the next guy, and that means the next guy gets screwed over. The union seeks to remove individual choice, instead selling the services of a collection of workers as a whole unit in an effort to level the playing field for all workers, thus giving greater power to the collective.

What choice the union decides to remove from the individual is up to each union. A union is just the people in the union, after all. It's not some magical power that descended from the heavens. They, as a collective, can do whatever they want. But it's easy to see how allowing the choice to work on certain holidays could become a problem for some unions and why its members would seek to have nobody work on holidays.

But if it’s not all the stores in the local

But that's just it, the stores that were open appear to be in different union locals.

So it must have a been a corporate decision.

What's the explanation, though? Do people in Toronto not eat on holiday Mondays? There were a handful of other locations outside of Toronto that were also closed, but they appear to be in the same union local.