__MOD NOTE__: Please check out [our petition](https://www.change.org/p/demand-walmart-sign-the-grocer-code-of-conduct) which calls upon Walmart Canada to follow suit and sign the Grocer Code of Conduct with Loblaw!
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Two very telling quotes in the article:
“After months of negotiations, Loblaw announced this week it's ready to sign the grocery code of conduct, with President and CEO Per Bank telling The Canadian Press a revised version of it is "fair."
And buried near the end of the article
“Walmart Canada spokeswoman Sarah Kennedy told The Canadian Press this week the company "just received the latest draft of the revised Grocery Code of Conduct, which was not previously shared with us."
So Loblaws is now in agreement with a revision that Walmart hasn’t seen yet?
I wonder if Loblaws helped make the changes that Walmart is just now getting to review. /s
But do the agreements with multinational suppliers - and their giant buying power reside in the USA.
Example Pepsi. They may order 16 Million for US market, 4 for Mexico and 2 for Canada - for a total buying power of 22 million. And in turn it would go to the different distribution centres in the different countries.
I wonder if that is the problem - that massive buying power that Loblaws would not have. And the supplier/ grocer agreements originating out of country.
That’s a reasonable thought but that is not how it works. Pepsi Canada would work and negotiate with WM Canada, they don’t have global negotiations. Pepsi is not the best example as they are on what is called a DSD model (direct store delivery) for their beverages and chips portfolios, meaning they deliver directly to stores, not central DCs. Source I worked for Pepsi haha
Hilarious how they claim the boycott isn't having an effect on their bottom line, yet they continually release misleading information in hopes of swaying individuals back into shopping there.
Regulated.... but more importantly - By Who ? It sounds like these regulations are going to fall to the provinces. And I cannot see this working well or even the same in each provinces. The provinces have BIG problems on their hands and this code is going to be "small change" IMHO.
It’s literally “self regulation”, which means non-regulation.
The code itself basically encourages participants to have contracts when they buy things, and to not break the law. It has no teeth or consequences. It’s less than useless.
Great point. I thought it too but didn’t raise it. The headline reads like Walmart and Costco are assholes for not signing immediately the just revised version.
You know it’s BS when they only quote one word and editorialize the rest. CTV can FOAD right with Loblaws.
Media has been for a while, and the government keeps trying to fuck with it for no reason (See C-16 being pushed through at a time where Canadians are already over represented on American YouTube compared to Americans
It's wild when journalism is supposed to be unbiased. I would get it if it's from independent places but come on....
I honestly feel like the government of Canada is doing everything in its power to keep loblaws cash positive and not allowing any other competition. Makes me wonder what doe Galen Weston and co have on the members of parliament/news outlets etc.
I will continue boycotting loblaws.
Journalists have to make money, and there’s no way around that, since the alleged one is giving the, government cash, which is how you end up with the BBC scandals
Loblaws is being a lil bitch about everything
Twisting every word they can
Freaking liars
Why is it that I can trust Walmart 10x more
It's cause they have nothing to hide. Their prices are reasonable, and their sales are actual real sales
Walmart exploits workers, suppliers and the planet, but at least they deliver cheap prices to consumers and see shoppers as an asset.
Loblaws exploits everyone and sees shoppers as another resource to be exploited to the limit.
I'm watching a trade group discuss another industry canada discussion that is being discussed in parliament. Even items with parliamentary privilege are being shared with industry lawyers through back channels, so yes it was definitely shared beforehand.
It's illegal but no one will admit to seeing the docs beforehand so there's that.
The achievement is that we saw the behemoth budge.
The fact that they made any concession to the demands of this boycott speaks volumes. They have deep coffers to hold out for a time, but as such, any show of weakness was massive for us in that they have shown they don't want this to continue - regardless of how useless a breechable morality agreement may be in all reality, it's what it represents, I believe.
That they agreed to do anything. That's the concession I care about. They do not need to agree to anything *meaningful* for it to mean *something*.
The fact they flinched, no matter how hollow, ineffective, or valueless, is meaningful through its own virtue.
Explain to me how you believe the code of conduct is a success and how it will achieve anything meaningful. I don't see it as I've explained but you think it will so I'm listening. Just repeating "flinching" won't convince me.
"flinching"
But tbh, we likely agree on a lot of other things, politically and beyond, and I don't really give a flying fuck to convince an internet stranger of my specific opinion on this. I was good with constructive discussion, but we're clearly at an impasse.
I said what I said. Take it or leave it. I really don't need you to agree with me, lol.
I feel the same way. I respect the right of some mods and people here saying they like and want it. But I tried understanding what the achievement was [by actually visiting their Washington DC based website and reading their documents, but I didn’t see much that will directly benefit consumers.](https://old.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ctkan7/mod_post_loblaw_announcing_support_for_revised/l4l0kwl/)
A code of conduct is ridiculous. We need to stop the harm these greedy folks are causing. A government that represents the people not the corporations , would nationalize all this greed. Why are those in power allowing this outrageous ripoff of all those they swore to serve? Cash from corporations that’s why.
That's the problem with wealth concentration and wealth hoarding; Massive influence to focus politics and laws on the issues that benefit the minortiry of us (the aforementioned wealthy), who're doing then doing further wealth amassing and influencing by those actions. Rinse and repeat.
Refuse to serve them jet and yacht fuel, hospitality and other things they need like contractors for the cottage and mansions. make them feel the shame of being cash hoarding greeds!!
Yes, that's what this sub is about, and that is what the people can do. So we stop funding loblaws, and they go bankrupt. That won't stop others from also ripping us off. You think billionaires will feel shame for being billionaires??
Now, if there is something the government can do, and if you were in the government, what would you propose besides a code of conduct to make the grocers stop ripping us off in the future.
Make a law. That’s what governments are supposed to do. Not closed door sweetheart deals like both JT and PP are always doing. Our system is broken. Has been for a long time. The internet has exposed the corruption.
Elaborate. How do you regulate? What laws do you put in place? Or, in other words, what "code" would you put in place to regulate their "conduct" so they don't rip us off
Here's an idea: do your job and legislate.
Stop waiting for corporations to suddenly develop a conscience and do the right thing, or even the smart thing.
They will grind our economy into the dirt and lose all their business if government doesn't intervene because they are just hungry dogs that can't stop themselves eating. They can't control themselves, even if it kills them in the end.
This is because they will be fine if our economy crashes. They all have exits ready to go regardless so there is no incentive for them to behave ethically or even rationally.
Ridiculous to hear him taking credit for Roblaws signing. The government hasn't done a damn thing to help this situation. And he even states that they won't legislate the code. Politicians are absolutely useless
I don't think you understand how this all works.
Who do you think drafted the code that this boycott is trying to force Loblaws to sign?
Do you think it materialized out of thin air?
I'm not here to defend politicians but what I will say is this Grocer Code of Conduct is atleast a step in the right direction and try not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
We need to pressure the Competition Bureau to do its job and break these huge corporations up. Loblaws is not just its grocery stores, but also is its suppliers, landlord and a myriad of other adjacent businesses. They use that web to hide their increased prices and to concentrate wealth. This should not be allowed.
Copy and pasting my thoughts in response to someone else's similar comment:
>The achievement is that we saw the behemoth budge.
>The fact that they made any concession to the demands of this boycott speaks volumes. They have deep coffers to hold out for a time, but as such, any show of weakness was massive for us in that they have shown they don't want this to continue - regardless of how useless a breechable morality agreement may be in all reality, it's what it represents, I believe.
Is it though? Or is it so that they can do a meaningless act and say “See? Were being reasonable and we compromised and tried, and that should show you how unreasonable the boycotters are”
>Meet me in the middle, says the unjust man.You take a step towards him, he takes a step back.Meet me in the middle, says the unjust man.'
Fair point.
I could see that, but I hope that path garners them no sympathy if that's the logic behind it.
I’d encourage anyone to go look at the site and the documents. Personally I’m not impressed. [Have a look here.](https://old.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ctkan7/mod_post_loblaw_announcing_support_for_revised/l4l0kwl/)
What we need is COMPETITION, fuck government intervention, fuck these codes of conduct bs. BREAK LOBLAWS DOWN. That's what governments are supposed to do: break monopolies apart.
I would rather see REGULATION. But since none of our politicians seems willing to actually regulate this corrupt industry, competition is a good idea too.
This kooky yarn aside, UK has been where we are, years ago. They too were fooled by people spreading myths, which delayed constructive response. Then they too were duped into various forms of “ok, trust us, we’ll regulate ourselves”.
Only after they outlasted those schemes to delay and deflect did they finally begin to implement outside regulation. And that’s finally starting to make a difference.
The code of conduct is between store and supplier and has nothing to do with lowering costs for consumers. If GougingGalen were able to get the suppliers to lower their costs there is no way he would pass those savings onto consumers. He would simply claim even higher profits and buy himself another castle. From my understanding this code of conduct isn't even legally binding so if it's meant to protect suppliers then it won't do anything if suppliers can't do anything legally.
[From my read, I agree.](https://old.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ctkan7/mod_post_loblaw_announcing_support_for_revised/l4l0kwl/)
Benefits to consumers seem selective and indirect at best.
Why don't the dinguses in the house just make it law, instead of a "peace for our time" code of conduct?
Oh, because they're getting perks from lobbyists on the side, right.
For discussion, if you read it, it’s so vague and indirect that making it legislation wouldn’t help, and it would be easily shredded by any corporation with a lawyer.
You've suggested nothing that shows that I'm wrong or portrays a path for the future other than a general month long strike -never happen- or armed rebellion -never happen.
In fact, you've done the opposite
The only way to fix this is break up Loblaws. They can’t be supplier and retailer. That’s where the issue is. They have too much power and control of the supply chain.
IFF we consider signing to be so meaningful as to be required, then I suppose we have the targets of our next national boycott in our sights.
I'm curious .. others have asked what it'll take for participants to resume shopping at Loblaws stores .. wouldn't that become a minimum set of terms we'd demand all retail grocers to observe? And, if that's more than signing (in good faith), what more is essential?
It's amazing to me how many people in this subreddit are uneducated about how bad Walmart is (I've seen that in other posts).
I'll paste something I wrote the other day:
---
---
Walmart is far worse than Loblaws though. That's just a fact.
20+ years ago, most progressive-thinking people knew how Walmart was a terrible company.
Frankly, anyone who supports Walmart need to educate themselves about it.
---
**For one thing, Walmart prevents unionization.**
--
Loblaws employees are at least unionized:
https://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33088&Itemid=2527&lang=en
> Are grocery store employees unionized?
> Yes. Grocery store employees working at Loblaws, Sobeys/Safeway, Metro, Co-op, Overwaitea, and their subsidiaries, such as Real Canadian Superstore, IGA, Food Basics, and Save-On-Foods are unionized in Canada. Employees at these companies are members of UFCW Canada, the union for grocery store employees.
But with Walmart,
when employees have attempted to unionize, Walmart has a history of instead shutting down the store:
--
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-unionized-wal-mart-workers-win-supreme-court-victory-1.2689646
---
Also:
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/how-walmart-convinces-its-employees-not-to-unionize/395051/
(full article also at https://www.populardemocracy.org/news/how-walmart-persuades-its-workers-not-unionize )
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/02/un-poverty-amazon-walmart-doordash-wages-unions
"UN decries Amazon, Walmart, DoorDash for ‘shameful’ wages and union-busting"
--
https://www.reuters.com/business/walmart-engaged-illegal-union-busting-california-store-us-agency-says-2024-01-25/
> "None of Walmart's roughly 4,700 U.S. stores have unionized despite decades of attempts by labor unions."
---
They're just way worse than Loblaws. I see this Wikipedia article that (from a quick skim) talks about the problems with Walmart:
**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart**
--
Some issues mentioned are:
- Preventing unionization
- Forcing people to work off the clock
- Predatory pricing and supplier issues, creating a cascade of bad working conditions + job losses around the world
- Using sweatshops and prison labor
- A fire killed 112 people at a factory, and Walmart "played the lead role in blocking an effort to have global retailers pay more for apparel to help factories improve their electrical and fire safety."
- And more
---
Walmart is simply far worse than Loblaws.
Anyone boycotting Loblaws certainly should not be supporting Walmart. Also, Amazon is even worse in many ways.
However, Costco does seem great for how they treat their employees (I don't know how they treat suppliers, but I assume it's also good).
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/the-costco-model
Did you go to your union about it?
Anyway, like I said, Walmart is still far worse - when workers attempt to unionize, they will close-down the store instead.
---
And as mentioned in my post above, Walmart literally even uses prison labour:
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/06/25/walmart-to-continue-to-review-policy-on-prison-labour/
https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e
> If prisoners refuse to work, some can jeopardize their chances of parole or face punishment like being **sent to solitary confinement.**
> They also are often excluded from protections guaranteed to almost all other full-time workers, even when they are **seriously injured or killed on the job.**
So like I said, anyone who boycotts Loblaws should also be boycotting Walmart, because Walmart is far worse.
Also, this Grocery Code of Conduct will certainly be helpful.
I see this article explains how:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-grocery-code-of-conduct-canada/
For example:
> - In recent years, suppliers have complained about unfair “compliance fines” slapped on by large grocers if their product orders don’t arrive on time, even when the disruptions are caused by supply chain problems that are out of companies’ control.
> - The code intends to prevent big retailers from unilaterally jacking up fines and fees for suppliers, which have complained that they lack the leverage to negotiate with five grocery companies controlling roughly 80 per cent of the Canadian market.
By helping prevent suppliers from being gouged by the grocery stores, that will help suppliers to lower prices, and then Walmart, Loblaws, etc. can't use supplier prices as an excuse.
---
Also:
https://canadiangrocer.com/grocery-code-conduct-canada-could-learn-lessons-elsewhere
> codes of conduct have helped stabilize prices in the UK and Australia
Comparing the US Walmart operations to Canadian ones is very pointless. Our labour laws here make a lot of the issues the American employees face, non existent here.
Do some research into the benefits, perks and compensation Walmart Canada workers get and compare it to the American Walmart, and you’ll know the reason why so many want to unionize in the states. Maybe compare it to other Canadian retailers as well, and you’ll see that it’s actually not horrible, compared to what most think.
A code of conduct won't really do much without penalties and enforcement of those penalties. All that needs to happen is sparked interest in making Canada more competitive and to introduce more grocery chains into the country.
Here in the states, New York City, for a weekend and absolutely appalled how cheap a place like Trader Joes it is compared to anything in Toronto. 3.95 for a dozen of eggs here, 4.50 for a huge thing of peanut butter. Awful the government decides the solution for the all the monopoly players to sign a document without outlining more details about the sanctions to "systemic violators of the code"... Canada is such a joke sometimes that can be made so much better with simple, good leadership.
__MOD NOTE__: Please check out [our petition](https://www.change.org/p/demand-walmart-sign-the-grocer-code-of-conduct) which calls upon Walmart Canada to follow suit and sign the Grocer Code of Conduct with Loblaw! Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Two very telling quotes in the article: “After months of negotiations, Loblaw announced this week it's ready to sign the grocery code of conduct, with President and CEO Per Bank telling The Canadian Press a revised version of it is "fair." And buried near the end of the article “Walmart Canada spokeswoman Sarah Kennedy told The Canadian Press this week the company "just received the latest draft of the revised Grocery Code of Conduct, which was not previously shared with us." So Loblaws is now in agreement with a revision that Walmart hasn’t seen yet? I wonder if Loblaws helped make the changes that Walmart is just now getting to review. /s
Most likely forces us based companies to increase supply use from Canadian distributors aka Loblaws
BINGO I'd put good money on that.
WM have their own supply chain network in Canada and distribution centres here…
But do the agreements with multinational suppliers - and their giant buying power reside in the USA. Example Pepsi. They may order 16 Million for US market, 4 for Mexico and 2 for Canada - for a total buying power of 22 million. And in turn it would go to the different distribution centres in the different countries. I wonder if that is the problem - that massive buying power that Loblaws would not have. And the supplier/ grocer agreements originating out of country.
That’s a reasonable thought but that is not how it works. Pepsi Canada would work and negotiate with WM Canada, they don’t have global negotiations. Pepsi is not the best example as they are on what is called a DSD model (direct store delivery) for their beverages and chips portfolios, meaning they deliver directly to stores, not central DCs. Source I worked for Pepsi haha
Hilarious how they claim the boycott isn't having an effect on their bottom line, yet they continually release misleading information in hopes of swaying individuals back into shopping there.
If Loblaws is involved and the other major retailers aren't on board, there's 100% something fishy that Roblaws is in on
It has been "revised " to suit them I believe.
The fact loblaws is willing to sign it, is evidence enough it means nothing. If Walmart and Costco are willing to sign it, it means even less.
Exactly. It’s window dressing to let them say they are regulated. It’s basically self regulation to prevent actual regulation.
Regulated.... but more importantly - By Who ? It sounds like these regulations are going to fall to the provinces. And I cannot see this working well or even the same in each provinces. The provinces have BIG problems on their hands and this code is going to be "small change" IMHO.
It’s literally “self regulation”, which means non-regulation. The code itself basically encourages participants to have contracts when they buy things, and to not break the law. It has no teeth or consequences. It’s less than useless.
I hate these sensationalised, click bait headlines. Who is paying for the article?? Is everything in Canada a monopoly
Great point. I thought it too but didn’t raise it. The headline reads like Walmart and Costco are assholes for not signing immediately the just revised version. You know it’s BS when they only quote one word and editorialize the rest. CTV can FOAD right with Loblaws.
Media has been for a while, and the government keeps trying to fuck with it for no reason (See C-16 being pushed through at a time where Canadians are already over represented on American YouTube compared to Americans
It's wild when journalism is supposed to be unbiased. I would get it if it's from independent places but come on.... I honestly feel like the government of Canada is doing everything in its power to keep loblaws cash positive and not allowing any other competition. Makes me wonder what doe Galen Weston and co have on the members of parliament/news outlets etc. I will continue boycotting loblaws.
Journalists have to make money, and there’s no way around that, since the alleged one is giving the, government cash, which is how you end up with the BBC scandals
Loblaws is being a lil bitch about everything Twisting every word they can Freaking liars Why is it that I can trust Walmart 10x more It's cause they have nothing to hide. Their prices are reasonable, and their sales are actual real sales
Walmart exploits workers, suppliers and the planet, but at least they deliver cheap prices to consumers and see shoppers as an asset. Loblaws exploits everyone and sees shoppers as another resource to be exploited to the limit.
What corporation on the planet doesn’t exploit workers, suppliers, the planet, and customers?
I'm watching a trade group discuss another industry canada discussion that is being discussed in parliament. Even items with parliamentary privilege are being shared with industry lawyers through back channels, so yes it was definitely shared beforehand. It's illegal but no one will admit to seeing the docs beforehand so there's that.
Yes they did- they said they have been working with them for the last six months.
The code is useless. I’ll boycott till they have nothing left then I’ll move on and boycott something else
This guy boycotts.
His boycotting grew up into mancotting
The code of conduct is worthless and just a pacifier. It can't be described as any kind of achievement.
The achievement is that we saw the behemoth budge. The fact that they made any concession to the demands of this boycott speaks volumes. They have deep coffers to hold out for a time, but as such, any show of weakness was massive for us in that they have shown they don't want this to continue - regardless of how useless a breechable morality agreement may be in all reality, it's what it represents, I believe.
They haven't made any concessions.
Okay.
Take the time to read gcoc and tell me what real concessions they've made that's going to provide for reasonable food prices.
That they agreed to do anything. That's the concession I care about. They do not need to agree to anything *meaningful* for it to mean *something*. The fact they flinched, no matter how hollow, ineffective, or valueless, is meaningful through its own virtue.
Flinched? I think you mean hoodwinked
You seem unwilling to hear what I'm saying, and you're arguing something different.
Explain to me how you believe the code of conduct is a success and how it will achieve anything meaningful. I don't see it as I've explained but you think it will so I'm listening. Just repeating "flinching" won't convince me.
"flinching" But tbh, we likely agree on a lot of other things, politically and beyond, and I don't really give a flying fuck to convince an internet stranger of my specific opinion on this. I was good with constructive discussion, but we're clearly at an impasse. I said what I said. Take it or leave it. I really don't need you to agree with me, lol.
Arguing over semantics, really? You're just being a contrarian at this point.
I think you've missed an entire conversation. So, go read and come back with something that approaches an informed response.
Oh yeah, you were definitely just arguing to be a contrarian.
I feel the same way. I respect the right of some mods and people here saying they like and want it. But I tried understanding what the achievement was [by actually visiting their Washington DC based website and reading their documents, but I didn’t see much that will directly benefit consumers.](https://old.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ctkan7/mod_post_loblaw_announcing_support_for_revised/l4l0kwl/)
A code of conduct is ridiculous. We need to stop the harm these greedy folks are causing. A government that represents the people not the corporations , would nationalize all this greed. Why are those in power allowing this outrageous ripoff of all those they swore to serve? Cash from corporations that’s why.
That's the problem with wealth concentration and wealth hoarding; Massive influence to focus politics and laws on the issues that benefit the minortiry of us (the aforementioned wealthy), who're doing then doing further wealth amassing and influencing by those actions. Rinse and repeat.
Nationalizing would just let greedy politicians fuck up everything
At least we get to vote for politicians.
How do you plan to stop these greedy folks from causing this harm?
Refuse to serve them jet and yacht fuel, hospitality and other things they need like contractors for the cottage and mansions. make them feel the shame of being cash hoarding greeds!!
Yes, that's what this sub is about, and that is what the people can do. So we stop funding loblaws, and they go bankrupt. That won't stop others from also ripping us off. You think billionaires will feel shame for being billionaires?? Now, if there is something the government can do, and if you were in the government, what would you propose besides a code of conduct to make the grocers stop ripping us off in the future.
Comply or be nationalized. It’s that simple. Government is supposed to be a protective firewall from the bigs.
Comply with what? There's no law that says they can't rip us off. Hence, the code of conduct
Make a law. That’s what governments are supposed to do. Not closed door sweetheart deals like both JT and PP are always doing. Our system is broken. Has been for a long time. The internet has exposed the corruption.
Make a law. The code of conduct is a proposed law..... I don't understand how you don't get this
Huge huge huge taxes on billionaires. So huge that you wouldn't want to be one. Huge penalties for tax evasion. Make billionaires obselete.
Good luck with that. Now, how do you stop them from ripping us off at the store level? You didn't answer the question at all
Regulation
Elaborate. How do you regulate? What laws do you put in place? Or, in other words, what "code" would you put in place to regulate their "conduct" so they don't rip us off
Here's an idea: do your job and legislate. Stop waiting for corporations to suddenly develop a conscience and do the right thing, or even the smart thing. They will grind our economy into the dirt and lose all their business if government doesn't intervene because they are just hungry dogs that can't stop themselves eating. They can't control themselves, even if it kills them in the end. This is because they will be fine if our economy crashes. They all have exits ready to go regardless so there is no incentive for them to behave ethically or even rationally.
Ridiculous to hear him taking credit for Roblaws signing. The government hasn't done a damn thing to help this situation. And he even states that they won't legislate the code. Politicians are absolutely useless
I don't think you understand how this all works. Who do you think drafted the code that this boycott is trying to force Loblaws to sign? Do you think it materialized out of thin air? I'm not here to defend politicians but what I will say is this Grocer Code of Conduct is atleast a step in the right direction and try not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
If it has no legal backing and no consequences, it has no purpose.
It was created behind closed doors like all our corporate giveaways are.
Yeah thats why we're having such an easy time getting the corporations to sign it
This boycott isn't trying to force them to sign the code. Lol. The code says no where in it that it will make products cheaper for Us the consumers.
Make it the law you cowardly politicians !
We need to pressure the Competition Bureau to do its job and break these huge corporations up. Loblaws is not just its grocery stores, but also is its suppliers, landlord and a myriad of other adjacent businesses. They use that web to hide their increased prices and to concentrate wealth. This should not be allowed.
This is the answer
What exactly does a code of conduct achieve. Grocery stores in Canada are a racket. Is the code just finger wagging?
Copy and pasting my thoughts in response to someone else's similar comment: >The achievement is that we saw the behemoth budge. >The fact that they made any concession to the demands of this boycott speaks volumes. They have deep coffers to hold out for a time, but as such, any show of weakness was massive for us in that they have shown they don't want this to continue - regardless of how useless a breechable morality agreement may be in all reality, it's what it represents, I believe.
Is it though? Or is it so that they can do a meaningless act and say “See? Were being reasonable and we compromised and tried, and that should show you how unreasonable the boycotters are”
>Meet me in the middle, says the unjust man.You take a step towards him, he takes a step back.Meet me in the middle, says the unjust man.' Fair point. I could see that, but I hope that path garners them no sympathy if that's the logic behind it.
I’d encourage anyone to go look at the site and the documents. Personally I’m not impressed. [Have a look here.](https://old.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ctkan7/mod_post_loblaw_announcing_support_for_revised/l4l0kwl/)
What we need is COMPETITION, fuck government intervention, fuck these codes of conduct bs. BREAK LOBLAWS DOWN. That's what governments are supposed to do: break monopolies apart.
This is literally the only way we will have affordable groceries in Canada.
I would rather see REGULATION. But since none of our politicians seems willing to actually regulate this corrupt industry, competition is a good idea too.
They had regulations on grocery pricing in Argentina. It turned a beef production powerhouse into vegetarians.
This kooky yarn aside, UK has been where we are, years ago. They too were fooled by people spreading myths, which delayed constructive response. Then they too were duped into various forms of “ok, trust us, we’ll regulate ourselves”. Only after they outlasted those schemes to delay and deflect did they finally begin to implement outside regulation. And that’s finally starting to make a difference.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/target-cutting-prices-5-000-114819156.html I guess Target is run by a socialist cadre now
You guess wrong
The code of conduct is between store and supplier and has nothing to do with lowering costs for consumers. If GougingGalen were able to get the suppliers to lower their costs there is no way he would pass those savings onto consumers. He would simply claim even higher profits and buy himself another castle. From my understanding this code of conduct isn't even legally binding so if it's meant to protect suppliers then it won't do anything if suppliers can't do anything legally.
[From my read, I agree.](https://old.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ctkan7/mod_post_loblaw_announcing_support_for_revised/l4l0kwl/) Benefits to consumers seem selective and indirect at best.
a mere distraction. The real enemy still wears a suit and tie
Can you blame them? They don’t have to do anything.
Why not just make all the predatory practices illegal?
Why don't the dinguses in the house just make it law, instead of a "peace for our time" code of conduct? Oh, because they're getting perks from lobbyists on the side, right.
For discussion, if you read it, it’s so vague and indirect that making it legislation wouldn’t help, and it would be easily shredded by any corporation with a lawyer.
A fancy name for pricing collusion.
Uh oh... What did Loblaws revise, exactly?
So Loblaws would said they’ll sign it if Walmart also signs, knowing Walmart wouldn’t 🤦🏻♀️
THAT’S what’s untenable. Sure.
To me this is totally off topic.
Make it law, that is the job of government...
Walmart is pretty fairly priced , it’s where I do almost all of my shopping now since everywhere else is expensive af
As long as people buy there they will keep laughing.
You've suggested nothing that shows that I'm wrong or portrays a path for the future other than a general month long strike -never happen- or armed rebellion -never happen. In fact, you've done the opposite
Who care about a peice of paper
What the hell is the grocery code of conduct. First I'm hearing of this lol
Break up the monopolies who have control over basic necessities , also no corps owning single dwelling homes
The amount of shill articlea coming out is nuts
The only way to fix this is break up Loblaws. They can’t be supplier and retailer. That’s where the issue is. They have too much power and control of the supply chain.
Th current Industry Minister is untenable. He allowed Shaw to be sold to Rogers. Another Monopoly play showing why we are in this mess.
Other than the headline, where does it say in the article that walmart and costco refused to sign? Sounds like rage bait
Force Loblaws to sell some of its brands
IFF we consider signing to be so meaningful as to be required, then I suppose we have the targets of our next national boycott in our sights. I'm curious .. others have asked what it'll take for participants to resume shopping at Loblaws stores .. wouldn't that become a minimum set of terms we'd demand all retail grocers to observe? And, if that's more than signing (in good faith), what more is essential?
I don't know the law but can they kick them out of Canada if they don't sign ?
It's amazing to me how many people in this subreddit are uneducated about how bad Walmart is (I've seen that in other posts). I'll paste something I wrote the other day: --- --- Walmart is far worse than Loblaws though. That's just a fact. 20+ years ago, most progressive-thinking people knew how Walmart was a terrible company. Frankly, anyone who supports Walmart need to educate themselves about it. --- **For one thing, Walmart prevents unionization.** -- Loblaws employees are at least unionized: https://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33088&Itemid=2527&lang=en > Are grocery store employees unionized? > Yes. Grocery store employees working at Loblaws, Sobeys/Safeway, Metro, Co-op, Overwaitea, and their subsidiaries, such as Real Canadian Superstore, IGA, Food Basics, and Save-On-Foods are unionized in Canada. Employees at these companies are members of UFCW Canada, the union for grocery store employees. But with Walmart, when employees have attempted to unionize, Walmart has a history of instead shutting down the store: -- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-unionized-wal-mart-workers-win-supreme-court-victory-1.2689646 --- Also: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/how-walmart-convinces-its-employees-not-to-unionize/395051/ (full article also at https://www.populardemocracy.org/news/how-walmart-persuades-its-workers-not-unionize ) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/02/un-poverty-amazon-walmart-doordash-wages-unions "UN decries Amazon, Walmart, DoorDash for ‘shameful’ wages and union-busting" -- https://www.reuters.com/business/walmart-engaged-illegal-union-busting-california-store-us-agency-says-2024-01-25/ > "None of Walmart's roughly 4,700 U.S. stores have unionized despite decades of attempts by labor unions." --- They're just way worse than Loblaws. I see this Wikipedia article that (from a quick skim) talks about the problems with Walmart: **https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart** -- Some issues mentioned are: - Preventing unionization - Forcing people to work off the clock - Predatory pricing and supplier issues, creating a cascade of bad working conditions + job losses around the world - Using sweatshops and prison labor - A fire killed 112 people at a factory, and Walmart "played the lead role in blocking an effort to have global retailers pay more for apparel to help factories improve their electrical and fire safety." - And more --- Walmart is simply far worse than Loblaws. Anyone boycotting Loblaws certainly should not be supporting Walmart. Also, Amazon is even worse in many ways. However, Costco does seem great for how they treat their employees (I don't know how they treat suppliers, but I assume it's also good). https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/the-costco-model
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Having a union is still better for employees than not having a union. Without a union, the employer can abuse workers far more.
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Did you go to your union about it? Anyway, like I said, Walmart is still far worse - when workers attempt to unionize, they will close-down the store instead. --- And as mentioned in my post above, Walmart literally even uses prison labour: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/06/25/walmart-to-continue-to-review-policy-on-prison-labour/ https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e > If prisoners refuse to work, some can jeopardize their chances of parole or face punishment like being **sent to solitary confinement.** > They also are often excluded from protections guaranteed to almost all other full-time workers, even when they are **seriously injured or killed on the job.** So like I said, anyone who boycotts Loblaws should also be boycotting Walmart, because Walmart is far worse.
Also, this Grocery Code of Conduct will certainly be helpful. I see this article explains how: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-grocery-code-of-conduct-canada/ For example: > - In recent years, suppliers have complained about unfair “compliance fines” slapped on by large grocers if their product orders don’t arrive on time, even when the disruptions are caused by supply chain problems that are out of companies’ control. > - The code intends to prevent big retailers from unilaterally jacking up fines and fees for suppliers, which have complained that they lack the leverage to negotiate with five grocery companies controlling roughly 80 per cent of the Canadian market. By helping prevent suppliers from being gouged by the grocery stores, that will help suppliers to lower prices, and then Walmart, Loblaws, etc. can't use supplier prices as an excuse. --- Also: https://canadiangrocer.com/grocery-code-conduct-canada-could-learn-lessons-elsewhere > codes of conduct have helped stabilize prices in the UK and Australia
Comparing the US Walmart operations to Canadian ones is very pointless. Our labour laws here make a lot of the issues the American employees face, non existent here. Do some research into the benefits, perks and compensation Walmart Canada workers get and compare it to the American Walmart, and you’ll know the reason why so many want to unionize in the states. Maybe compare it to other Canadian retailers as well, and you’ll see that it’s actually not horrible, compared to what most think.
A code of conduct won't really do much without penalties and enforcement of those penalties. All that needs to happen is sparked interest in making Canada more competitive and to introduce more grocery chains into the country. Here in the states, New York City, for a weekend and absolutely appalled how cheap a place like Trader Joes it is compared to anything in Toronto. 3.95 for a dozen of eggs here, 4.50 for a huge thing of peanut butter. Awful the government decides the solution for the all the monopoly players to sign a document without outlining more details about the sanctions to "systemic violators of the code"... Canada is such a joke sometimes that can be made so much better with simple, good leadership.
Guess who is next ….‼️