Local 1000A members at LensCrafters locations in the Scarborough Town Centre and the Pickering Town Centre ratified their first collective agreements this week.
Gains included:
- Guaranteed wage increases
- No transfers without member consent
- Members can no longer be scheduled to work less than four hours per shift
- Guaranteed paid hours versus scheduled work hours (FT: 35 hrs or more per week; Regular PT: 25 or more hours but less than 25; Casual PT: less than 25 hours a week
- Grievance Procedure
- No Concessions
“I like a lot of things in the agreement—I think we made absolute progress from what we had before,” said Johnny Chow, a member of the negotiating committee and an Optician at LensCrafters.
Don Taylor, Regional Director (Central Ontario), led negotiations with support from Organizing Coordinator Jonathan Lobo, Senior Member Engagement Representative Petra Niebergall, negotiating committee members, Chow, Ian Curtis, and Ashanti Maingot.
Taylor thanked the membership for their support throughout the process and committee members for their hard work and dedication in raising the issues of LensCrafters workers .
“These first collective agreements provide us with a strong foundation to build on for the future,” Taylor said.
Curtis, who has been with LensCrafters for 15 years, said the seniority provisions make a huge difference as it means a guarantee of hours.
“Everyone who came out to the votes seemed happy with the deal—they feel a lot of their concerns have been addressed,” said Curtis, a part-time Lab Tech at LensCrafters.
While it is a fair deal, Curtis noted there is always room for improvement.
The Pickering LensCrafters agreement became effective on February 8, 2016 and the Scarborough one on February 9, 2016. Both will expire on March 31, 2017 along with four other Lenscrafters agreements at Fairview Mall, Markville Mall, Yorkdale Mall and Upper Canada Mall. Future negotiations for these six agreements will take place at the same time to ensure more power at the bargaining table.
“On behalf of Local 1000A, I want to congratulate Lenscrafters workers in Pickering and Scarborough on coming together to achieve their first contract,” said Local 1000A President Pearl Sawyer. "Through their union membership and with the assistance of dedicated and experienced union negotiators, they are improving their working conditions and ensuring that there is fairness while at work; and that’s what the union advantage is all about."
Lobo encouraged workers at other LensCrafters who are seeking union representation to reach out to Local 1000A to achieve union representation. Having more Lenscrafters workers represented by UFCW Local 1000A, will only strengthen our position during future negotiations.
“This first contract shows the power that workers can have when they come together in solidarity," Lobo said.
Workers at other LensCrafters, who are seeking fairness at work, should contact Jonathan Lobo at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416.459.5077 - 1.800.637.5936 (ext 4336).
