Zellers workers protest mass firing by Target

Thousands of Zellers workers slated to lose their jobs when more than 100 stores across Canada are converted to Target locations beginning next spring are ramping up a national campaign to protest the mass firing, calling on the public and government to intervene.

The Huffington Post: 

Thousands of Zellers workers slated to lose their jobs when more than 100 stores across Canada are converted to Target locations beginning next spring are ramping up a national campaign to protest the mass firing, calling on the public and government to intervene.

Though the small number of unionized workers that will be affected by the takeover may have some legal recourse to protect their jobs, the outlook for the vast majority is nowhere near as optimistic.
It’s a situation that one labour expert says should serve as a poignant reminder of the precarious nature of non-unionized work, which has become a hallmark of Canada’s growing retail sector, where the relatively low-skilled nature of jobs has made workers particularly vulnerable.

As Ryerson University’s Maurice Mazerolle told The Huffington Post Canada: “Unless you have a unionized contract or are protected by statute or one of the grounds by discrimination, then what you are seeing from Target could apply anywhere, to any company, to anybody working in this country.”

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