On December 20, 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada enshrined the right of agricultural workers in Canada to join a union and bargain collectively.

The Supreme Court upheld a constitutional challenge by UFCW Canada that found the Ontario government had violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Ontario government stripped agricultural workers of their right to unionize in 1995. Subsequently, UFCW Canada launched a constitutional challenge on their behalf. The challenge went all the way to the Supreme Court and after six years of struggle, the court ruled in favour of agricultural workers.

In 1994, UFCW Canada was the first and only union to successfully organize farm workers in Ontario. The previous NDP government of Ontario had granted agricultural workers the right to unionize for the first time. In the midst of negotiations, UFCW Canada members at Highline mushroom farms in Leamington were unilaterally de-certified by the new Harris government in 1995. The Tories rammed through legislation that rescinded the right for farm workers to unionize and even made the amendments retroactive.

The Supreme Court ruled the Ontario government had 18 months to draft new legislation that protects the rights of agricultural workers to unionize and bargain collectively. This decision could mean that farm workers in Alberta will also win unionization rights. Most agricultural workers in the rest of Canada are already guaranteed the right to unionize under provincial legislation.

"Today marked a great victory for all workers and their unions across Canada," said UFCW Canada Local 175 President Wayne Hanley. "Our Union has always struggled for the right of agricultural workers in Ontario to join our Union and bargain collectively. It has taken nothing less than the Supreme Court of Canada to force the Tories to recognize this right. As the largest Local Union in Canada, UFCW Canada Locals 175 and 633 can provide strong and effective representation and servicing to agricultural workers."

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Wal-Mart was sued in December 2001, by the United States Consumer Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC sued Wal-Mart for failing to report serious injuries caused by exercise gliders sold in their stores from 1996 to 1999. According to the CPSC, the arms on the Weider exercise gliders are liable to disconnect causing the user to fall abruptly.

Wal-Mart and ICON Health and Fitness, the manufacturer of the exercise glider, are being sued by the CPSC for breaking the law by not reporting injury complaints. The two companies receive at least 95 injury reports about the exercise gliders including 13 fractured vertebrae and 16 bruised tailbones. The CPSC recalled 75,000 gliders in 1999, but Wal-Mart contended there was no reasonable basis to conclude the defect in the exercise equipment posed any serious risk to consumers. The CPSC disagreed and was seeking $4.5 million in fines from Wal-Mart and ICON.

UFCW Canada Locals 175 and 633 have always urged our members to boycott Wal-Mart because the company is one of the most anti-union employers' in the world and source most of their products from sweatshop labour. UFCW Canada also supports local initiatives to stop Wal-Mart from building their infamous big box stores in our communities.

"Wal-Mart always says that they need low-wage, non-union workers and sweatshop labour to satisfy consumer demands for cheap products," says UFCW Canada Local President, Wayne Hanley. "But this case shows that Wal-Mart doesn't even care about their own consumers. The bottom line for Wal-Mart is sheer profits."

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