Striking liquor workers decried raises given to Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries’ top brass amid a two-year wage freeze for union employees as neither the Crown corporation nor the union budged from their bargaining positions Thursday.
Liquor Mart and MLL distribution centre employees took the picket line to Premier Heather Stefanson’s Tuxedo constituency office Thursday morning to call attention to the corporation’s executive payroll and compensation increases for two of its officers.
“For our members, those with me here today, hearing that their bosses took 16 per cent while they were required to take just 1.75 per cent in the last round of bargaining just strengthens our resolve,” Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union president Kyle Ross told reporters as vehicles travelling on Grant Avenue honked in support of the strike.
MLL workers walk the picket line outside the distribution centre on King Edward in Winnipeg last week.
“We are not asking for buckets of cash. We are asking for fairness.”
The union singled out compensation provided to MLL chief executive officer Gerry Sul and liquor and cannabis operations vice-president Robert Holmberg.
MLL must report total compensation paid to employees who earn more than $75,000 a year under the Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act.
Between 2018 and 2022, both Sul and Holmberg’s total pay increased by about 16 per cent, or approximately four per cent annually, on average.
The figures reported represent total compensation, including regular salary, overtime, vacation and discretionary leave payouts, among other benefits.
During the same period, unionized workers received a cumulative 1.75 per cent wage increase, or 0.45 per cent annually, in line with the Progressive Conservative government’s Public Services Sustainability Act. The act called for a two-year wage freeze followed by general wage increases of 0.75 and one per cent to curb salary costs.
“Rising inflation and the cost of groceries going up so much, that’s what our members face every day and they feel the struggle of the last wage mandate, and we need to catch up.”–Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union president Kyle Ross
A coalition of 28 unions took the government to court over its wage-freeze legislation in 2019, arguing it was unconstitutional. The bill was never proclaimed into law and it was repealed last June.
“Rising inflation and the cost of groceries going up so much, that’s what our members face every day and they feel the struggle of the last wage mandate, and we need to catch up,” Ross said.
“Our members are struggling. The wage offer isn’t remotely close to what’s fair, and we know what Premier Stefanson deems fair, and why can’t they offer it to everyone else?”
A spokesperson for MLL called the union’s characterization of the executives’ compensation “inaccurate and unfair.”
“During the period reported, Mr. Sul received acting pay as he was the interim CEO for a period of five months in 2019 and in 2021,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Free Press. “He was also promoted to a new role as executive vice-president of gaming and entertainment, both of which affected his compensation.
“Also, during this period, Mr. Holmberg saw his responsibilities increase significantly with the addition of cannabis operations to his portfolio, which was reflected in his compensation.”
Both Sul and Holmberg received the “same mandated increases” provided to all MLL employees, the spokesperson said.
About 1,400 MLL workers have been without a contract since March 2022 and want raises in line with those obtained by Stefanson and her cabinet — 3.3 per cent in 2023 and 3.6 per cent in both 2024 and 2025.
MGEU began labour action at MLL-operated retail outlets July 19 and a week later agreed to the Crown corporation’s request to bring in a conciliator. After a series of lockouts over the holiday weekend, the union decided Monday to strike provincewide, choking off liquor supplies and shuttering stores.
“Our customers, business partners and our employees continue to be subjected to unnecessary disruption,” Sul said in a statement Thursday. “We are making every effort to maintain operations, but our most important efforts should be on getting our employees back to work.”
MLL is offering two per cent a year over four years, and raising the hourly starting wage $2.38 above the province’s minimum wage.
The current starting hourly wage for MLL workers is $14.91, increasing to $15.30 in October in line with the raise in minimum wage. The promised bump for entry-level workers would increase the starting wage to $17.68 hourly this year and by March 2025, the starting wage would be $18.57, when a one per cent recruitment and retention adjustment is applied that year.
Additionally, MLL said it is offering a one-time, lump-sum payment of between $600 and $1,00 to “almost all employees currently” receiving the starting wage, based on hours worked.
The corporation has accused the union of withholding details of the monetary offer from its membership.
In response, Ross said the union has been transparent with workers, who understand that a two per cent general wage increase down the line is not enough.
“These raises don’t really affect the vast majority of members. We’re looking for fairness for all our members, not just a couple at the bottom (of the wage scale),” he said.
Both MGEU and MLL said conciliation talks continue.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
