Something is rotten in the meat department

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/02/2025 (395 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Recently, a CBC investigation raised alarms. Loblaw overcharged customers due to underweight meat package sales. However, a class-action lawsuit in British Columbia implicates Walmart, Loblaws, and Sobeys, too.

“Jay” works in a grocery store meat department and explained some of the issues.

Canadian federal legislation says consumers shouldn’t be charged for the weight of food packaging that surrounds ground meat. Grocery employees enter a “tare” into the scale when weighing meat. Meat tare amounts and best-before dates should be standardized. Scales should be updated and programmed at every store, but that doesn’t happen. The widespread sale of underweight meat packages indicates management didn’t tell workers how to fix these scale issues, or they chose not to. This CBC investigation found underweight ground meat for sale in 80 Loblaw stores.

After the news broke, there was a flurry of interest at Jay’s store. However, management still doesn’t ensure workers use the tare system properly. Workers must be properly trained, with a standardized and updated tare when weighing meat to follow the law. Training involves a hodgepodge of e-learning and mentorship. When that mentor isn’t around, low-wage workers navigate inconsistent information about meat cuts, best buy dates and incorrect tares. Customers’ wallets and food safety are at risk due to grocery companies’ poor management.

Grocery executives argue that “margins are razor thin!” According to 2024 third quarter earnings, Loblaw (No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart), reported net earnings of share holders were $156 million, or 25.1 per cent more than earned in the third quarter of 2023. Grocery stores aren’t in trouble. Galen Weston, Loblaw’s CEO, earned $8.4 million last year. The CEO of Empire (Sobeys, Safeway, Freshland, FoodCo IGA) Michael Medline, took in $8.7 million. While Canadian consumers struggle to afford groceries, 2024 statistics indicate grocers are doing fine.

I learned more about Jay’s employment status when we talked. She works shifts, which are not standardized and change every pay cycle. A “casual” worker, she is never offered enough work hours to reach full time, even though employees start at minimum wage. She never earns enough at the grocery store to rise above the poverty line. The erratic work hours mean it’s difficult to take a second job.

This isn’t Jay’s first grocery store job, either. Jay, a single mother, took care of her parents before they died, along with caring for her children. When the pandemic began, she took work at a grocery store. She started at minimum wage, working that “casual” schedule to support her household. The hourly pay went up by only 10 to 50 cents after hundreds of work hours. Owned by a franchisee, this grocery wasn’t unionized. It was a difficult work environment.

Through a friend’s recommendation, Jay eventually found a better job elsewhere with regular hours, using more of her skills. Thrilled, she handed in her notice. Three weeks later, that business had a disaster. Jay lost her new job.

After a year of unemployment, she found a job at a grocery store that belonged to the same corporation as the first. During a brief interview, the manager assured that her previous experience would be acknowledged. Her higher hourly salary, earned over many hours of casual labour at the first grocery store, would result in higher starting pay. She took the job.

As many employees find, interview promises sometimes don’t pan out. When her paycheque arrived, Jay’s hourly pay was again minimum wage. She got nowhere, despite asking the union representative and manager for help. She still has erratic shift work, no guaranteed minimum work hours, and little pay. Like many grocery workers, Jay relies on the food bank to feed her household. She received more in government support when staying home caring for her family. The manager noted her experience, giving her complicated tasks and asked her to train others. She’s never been paid appropriate wages based on her prior experience at the same corporation.

These grocery chains don’t only short their customers when it comes to underweight or wrong cuts of meat. They also short workers, with subpar working conditions, at wages that don’t meet anyone’s idea of a decent living standard.

Jay wants to find better work. Like most minimum wage workers, she cannot risk the loss of her job. She lacks the means or time to seek legal recourse. The CEO for Empire brings in $8.7 million a year and relies on outdated practices and minimum wage butchers to abide by federal regulations regarding tare weight. However, management’s not too generous when doling out enough wages to afford to purchase that meat.

Profit margins matter to shareholders and CEOs, but the average Canadian wants to purchase safe and correct meat cuts without paying for packaging. Further, with knowledge about low wage workers, who weigh those packages, they deserve to make enough income to afford groceries, too. Something stinks about the way management runs Canadian grocery stores.

It’s not just about the meat.

Joanne Seiff, a Winnipeg author, has been contributing opinions and analysis to the Winnipeg Free Press since 2009.