There Are Calls To Boycott Loblaw Stores Over The Pandemic Pay Cut

Well, that was quick. The backlash has been swift and fierce. With the Loblaw pandemic pay being cut, it has led to calls for all of the company's stores to be boycotted. The company's executive officer was even trending because of it.

After news that workers at Loblaw stores wouldn't be getting the extra $2 per hour pay premium anymore started circulating, people got online and started talking.

On Twitter, many have been voicing their displeasure with the company and people have been using #BoycottLoblaws in their tweets.

"Bring it back and change the name from pandemic wage supplement to just wage," one person said.

Another person tweeted that they actually cancelled the grocery order they had placed for today.

Many others also said that the company has lost their business for good because of this.

"Guess we should start shopping at their competitors," somebody else tweeted.

One person even called the move "criminal."

Even NDP leader Jagmeet Singh took a shot at the company on Twitter.

Galen Weston, chairman and executive officer of the company, sent out an update to customers on June 11 which included information about the end of the pandemic pay.

Then on June 12, his name was trending on Twitter throughout the day.

"As the economy slowly reopens and Canadians begin to return to work, we believe it is the right time to end the temporary pay premium we introduced at the beginning of the pandemic," Weston said in the update.

He noted that another reason for the end of the $2 increase is that things have stabilized in stores.

"After extending the premium multiple times, we are confident our colleagues are operating safely and effectively in a new normal," he said. 

According to the union that represents grocery workers in Canada, the end of the pandemic pay comes into effect this weekend.

"The pandemic is not over. The danger has not passed," said Jerry Dias, Unifor national president, in a news release.

Unifor is calling for fair pay to be made permanent as the country emerges from the pandemic.

"Retail workers have always been essential, and they have always deserved much better. The fact is, the pandemic did not make these workers essential and did not create the inequities in retail, it simply exposed them," Dias said.

While Weston said in his update that he would support government-led efforts to put forward a living wage, Unifor disagrees.

The union said that Loblaw has "consistently opposed" efforts to increase minimum wage.