Image: Unifor / Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union, says nearly 100 drivers at Walmart in Surrey have joined them after the Canada Industrial Relations Board granted interim certification, meaning the drivers can form a bargaining committee and work towards a collective bargaining committee. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Fraser Valley Walmart drivers

Nearly 100 Fraser Valley Walmart truck drivers become unionized

Nov 12, 2024 | 9:34 AM

FRASER VALLEY — Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, says nearly 100 drivers at Walmart in Surrey have joined them after the Canada Industrial Relations Board granted interim certification.

According to a news release dated Friday, November 8, the interim certification enables the 95 truck drivers to form a bargaining committee and work with Unifor representatives to negotiate with Walmart towards its first collective agreement.

“Walmart workers are sending a powerful message: they’re ready to stand together for better conditions, fair wages, and job security,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Forming a union is the most effective way to protect your rights at work. There is real power in a union.”

Unifor says Walmart workers’ win in Surrey follows the historic unionization of Walmart’s Mississauga warehouse—Walmart’s first in Canada—and forges a strong path ahead for other organizing efforts in the warehouse sector.

“We read every day about the growing influence of billionaires, but working people are fighting back,” said Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle.

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Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union says it advocates for all working people and their rights, strives for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and works to create progressive change for a better future.