OTTAWA (Reuters) – A Canadian parliamentary committee voted on Thursday to summon major retailers to demand they explain their decision to cancel temporary wage increases for workers during the coronavirus outbreak, the Globe and Mail reported.
The newspaper said all 11 members of the House of Commons industry committee agreed on the need for testimony from executives at Loblaw Companies Ltd, Sobeys Inc and Metro Inc.
Legislators and union activists are unhappy that all three firms have scrapped a C$2-an-hour pay increase awarded to frontline workers as the outbreak spread. The bonus had been in place for 14 weeks.
Canada’s Parliament has been largely shut down because of the outbreak and it was unclear when the executives would be able to appear.
Sherry Romanado, the Liberal legislator who heads the committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. None of the firms was immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Cooney)
