After a decade of legal battles, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favour of 190 former Walmart workers from Jonquiere, Quebec who lost their jobs back in 2005. The court decided five-to-two that the workers be compensated. Prior to the court’s decision, the union has filed a complaint that Walmart fired the unionized employees by “modifying working conditions to eliminate their jobs.” The elimination of their jobs came months after the employees unionized in 2004, becoming the first Walmart workers in North America to do so.
Previously, an arbitrator had ruled in favour of the union, which was overturned later by the Quebec Court of Appeal. Following that, the Supreme Court turned the decision around by ruling in favour of the workers.
“It was in fact reasonable to find that a reasonable employer would not close an establishment that ‘was performing very well’ and whose ‘objectives were being met’ to such an extent that bonuses were being promised,” says the ruling. Walmart representatives said that the company was disappointed with the decision and would consider its options.
