The tight labour market could boost the pandemic-born trend of union organizing in under-unionized sectors like retail and service, which has seen successful drives at the likes of Starbucks, Indigo and PetSmart, experts said.
Since 2020, there have been union drives at major retailers including Starbucks, Cineplex, Indigo, Sephora and PetSmart.
When there aren’t as many would-be workers sitting on the sidelines, companies have fewer hiring choices.
Union organizers including Novak say they’re getting more interest from workers in sectors that for decades have seen low rates of unionization, including retail, food service and warehousing.
Even fewer workers are unionized in accommodation and food services, at less than six per cent, again almost the same as five years earlier.
Currently, the unionized locations of these chain stores are vastly outnumbered by their non-unionized peers.
last year a single-step certification process was introduced that makes it easier and faster for workplaces to unionize, and the B.C.