Messages from your President & Secretary-Treasurer
President Tosato’s Message – FALL 2026
Levelling the playing field: Building equity, fairness, and opportunity for all workers
This has been a busy summer of conventions, Labour Day celebrations, and, as always, lots of strong bargaining by your Union Negotiating Committees across the province, and this issue of Checkout highlights much of it.
Unions have been built, one step at a time, by everyday workers who decided to fight for better. Whether in bargaining, at protests, or by lobbying politicians, every step forward is an important one.
Unions level the playing field to eliminate favouritism and create balance when it comes to schedules, wages, promotions, and more. Every member has the same rights and opportunities to get raises, advance, and have fair working conditions.
That level playing field is one of the most important things about being a Union member: equality in the workplace.
September 20 – 26 marked Gender Equality Week and September 18 was International Equal Pay Day. According to United Nations Women, the world remains 171 years away from gender equality at the current pace of progress. Around the world, women are paid on average about 20% less than men for the same work. As we head into Women’s History Month in October, that stark reminder about the gender pay gap is a call to action that there is much still to be done.
Unions continue to be one of the most important ways workers can find pay equity and gender equality at work. Our Locals 175 & 633 Pay Equity department works alongside your Representatives to ensure we hold employers accountable when they are not doing their part to end the pay gap.
November 25 – December 10 marks 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence in the #OrangeTheWorld campaign. This year’s campaign focuses on ensuring justice, protecting survivors, and ending impunity. Watch for our social media posts during the #16Days to share information and raise awareness about the work being done, the achievements won, and the many challenges still faced by women and girls around the world.
I’m proud to be part of an organization that not only works to protect and enhance the status of women in the workplace, but that also raises women up and mentors the next generation of leaders to ensure that women continue to be a growing part of UFCW’s leadership.
As we head into fall, I know our great Local Union will continue to move forward, united as one strong group, working together to build a better future, with equality for all working people.
So, with another Labour Day behind us, thank you to all of our members who continue to show up, speak up, and put their Union membership to good use. Your solidarity and support for each other is what allows your Union to keep moving forward and growing stronger every day.
In Solidarity,
Kelly Tosato
president@ufcw175.com
Secretary-Treasurer McLean’s Message – FALL 2026
Support & Empowerment: Showing Up, Speaking Out; putting your Union Membership to Good Use
In your community and beyond – from protests and petitions, to showing solidarity for workers on a picket line or showing up on Labour Day – we can all support and contribute to the progress of working people.
Union members have the opportunity, every day, to make positive change; to speak up and make your voice heard. Chat with your Union Stewards and your Health & Safety Committees. Ask questions about the things that concern you.
Your Union membership comes with an inherent support system that when you speak up, you are protected. A system that ensures your concerns are taken seriously.
Whether you make use of the formal grievance and arbitration process, ask for Steward representation at a discipline meeting, or report hazards or concerns to your supervisor and Joint Health & Safety Committee, you have built-in protections that mean your voice is heard and your job is protected against retribution.
For non-Union workers, it might be about taking the brave step to call a Union Organizer.
And it is a brave step.
It’s not an easy decision to stand up to your employer, but it is a freeing one; it is an empowering one. And it’s a decision that can have so many beneficial outcomes for those workers and their colleagues.
It’s a step that more and more non-Union workers are taking in order to find representation and protection with UFCW Locals 175 & 633. And on pages 8 – 9 of the Fall 2026 edition of Checkout, you can read more about – and celebrate the courage of – some of the most recent workers we’ve welcomed to our Local Union.
From retail grocery workers at Adonis in Mississauga, to brewery workers at Carlsberg in Kitchener, and healthcare workers at WellFort Community Health Services, the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, and Bayshore Health Care Solutions, our Union continues to be a place – a community – where workers turn for support when they want to take the next step to organize.
I hope all of our members know that their Union is a place to find support, resources, and community. Whether a long-time or newer member, if you have concerns or questions, please reach out.
With another outstanding Labour Day behind us, I want to thank all of our members who continue to show up, speak up, and put their Union membership to good use. Your solidarity and support for each other is what allows your Union to keep moving forward and growing stronger every day.
Thank you to everyone who joined a Labour Day celebration in your community! Your show of solidarity and support for workers is more important than ever.
In Solidarity,
Jim McLean
treasurer@ufcw175.com