I’m a member of UFCW 1006a, working at Loblaws. Within a week of Trump announcing the tariffs against Canada, our store put up signs everywhere on the floor stating, “PROUDLY CANADIAN since 1919”.
This ‘proudly Canadian’ store has gouged Canadian workers with sky-high grocery prices during a cost of living crisis, while 1 in 5 Canadians are considering turning to food banks. And this same company puts its own workers in danger through unsafe working conditions, faulty equipment, understaffing and unpaid overtime, all while paying starvation wages. Cynical appeals to ‘buy Canadian’ only mean protecting the profits of Canadian capitalists, made at the expense of Canadian workers.
The Canadian ruling class is trying to promote nationalism to protect their own interests. But we have nothing in common with our bosses. The only way forward is a class struggle, not just against Trump’s tariffs but against Trudeau, Galen Weston and the entire capitalist system.
