FreshCo members in Oshawa Achieved a New Collective Agreement

FreshCo members in Oshawa secure wage & other gains in new agreement

On February 17, 2026, retail grocery members at the FreshCo on Wentworth and Cedar in Oshawa achieved a new collective agreement with wage and language improvements.

Full-time employees will see increases totalling $4.05 per hour over the term of the agreement, plus a lump sum payment of $200 as of ratification.

Part-time employees at end rate receive a lump sum of $500 upon ratification and another $500 lump sum in year two, followed by rate increases totalling $0.90 per hour over the remainder of the agreement. Part-time on the progression grid will receive lump sums of $200 for those with 20 hours per week or more, and $100 for those with less than 20 hours per week.

Members will benefit from improved premiums:

• $1 per hour for Relief Manager
• $0.65 per hour for Relief Employee
• $1 per hour for Night Shift
• $1.10 per hour for Lead Hand
• $0.75 per hour for Office Duties

A further monetary improvement sees the boot allowance for employees increase to $130 per year.

Members will also benefit from improved health and welfare coverage including a $50 increase to vision care in the last year of the agreement term, and increases to the employer’s dental plan contributions as well.

Language for bereavement improves to provide five days, up from one, for the death of a grandparent, and a new entitlement of one day for the death of an aunt or uncle is now included.

The Union Negotiating Committee successfully achieved language that ensures any employees hired prior to 2020 will be eligible to take Civic holiday as a statutory holiday, and the employer will now start paying for employer-requested doctor’s notes.

This agreement provides Union security and better working conditions for the 46 full- and part-time employees at FreshCo on Wentworth and Cedar in Oshawa.

Union Negotiating Committee: Linda Moher, Devon Poxon, and Union Representative Mario Tardelli.

Read grocery retail sector posts including negotiation highlights.

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