Toronto – When Hudson’s Bay employees held rallies in front of two properties of the reputed retailer in late May, the retailer closed his doors for good, they knew that there was no hope of saving his job.
Instead, their goal was to encourage MPs to the collapse of a 355-year-old retailer-and all unsuccessful companies that follow it-a little less painful for employees.
He argued that if the government adopted its own willing list of ideas ranging from promoting federal support programs to prioritizing workers rather than lenders, when companies are repaying in creditor protection, what they are doing.
Such ideas were first tied around in the labor circle when the Canadian divisions of Sears, Target and Nordstrom collapsed. This time, they are expecting speed.
“When you are looking for this type of reforms, you will have eb and flow, but right now, we have an opportunity because the bay position is fresh in the minds of the people” said Lana Payne, president of Uniphore.
Its union orchestrated rallies in a rallies in front of the retailer’s distribution centers at Scarborough, Toronto and one of the Windsor, Onts. The store represents around 595 out of 9,364 employees, which worked in Canada’s oldest company before filing for creditor protection in March.
The workers were told that they would not get the expiration or dissection salary and will lose health, dentistry and life insurance benefits. A legal firm representing him has warned that “given the significant amount of HBC’s safe loan, it is not clear that employees will be able to recover any amount directly from HBC.”
The company has blamed its problems on Covid-19 epidemic, sad store traffic and tariffs. This began to sell its remaining assets in the hope of re -recurring as much as possible for thousands of creditors after failing to attract investors to attract investors.
Behind the line
When Canadian companies file for creditor protection, the funds near various groups are often left for the jockey, which remains less cash, it will not usually be enough to visit. Safe lenders are usually in the first line because they have collateral support that they lend, often well a company demanded a vengeance from the courts.
Bay has 26 -page creditors in terms of Bay, including safe senior lender Restores Capital, Pathlight Capital and Bank of America. They alone outstand hundreds of thousands of dollars and have started re -starting some of their losses as the Gulf is paying them with cash from the sale of their liquidation.
Employees are in the list of creditors, but they have not been secured and the outstanding amount is marked “TBD”.
“I think it is very clear that workers are not priority in such cases,” Payne said. “The law does not prioritize them and the workers are still feeling the results of the same.”
In the future, Unifor would like to see that the law has changed, so the claims of the end of the workers are paid first, Payne said.
Susan Ursl, a lawyer representing the bay employees, agrees with the idea because “employees are individually affected by their employer’s bankruptcy – lose their income and throw their futures in uncertainty.
He wrote in an email, “Unlike sophisticated lenders, they are not able to interact on security for their employers and therefore fall behind safe lenders who are in recovery of outstanding money for them.”
“A legislative priority for employees will provide more definite and effective security for employees, which we will welcome.”
But Sunira Chaudhary, who established a lawyer in a workley law in Toronto, concerns that the creditor will scare the lenders with the change long before the creditor is on the horizon of conservation and when companies still have a shot in recovery.
“If the employees were to be in the first line … then any employer who hits a lot of employees will have a bad bet for banks,” he said. “You want to lend them at least money, as you will never be able to recur on loan.”
Jared Ong, an organizer of the Workers Action Center, has earlier heard that argument. He does not agree with this.
He said, “Year -dar -saal, major banks keep making billions more, but compare it to a worker who can be one or two pethecked, who can be away from losing the roof on their heads,” he said.
Existing support
Workers are left without jobs when they go under their company, usually capable of bending on two federal government programs, but Ong said they need to be more generous.
The first is employment insurance, which makes employees out of work, while they seek a new job. To qualify, applicants must go without work and pay for at least seven days in the last 52 weeks.
The second wage is a wage earner protection program, which helps the workers whose employees were filed for creditor protection, which pay the outstanding wages, leave, termination or dissection salary.
Bay employees have to apply for Wepp by 26 October, the service was provided by Canada after their deadline expansion.
Those who qualify under the program can earn up to $ 8,844.22 this year – a cap uniphore has been raised.
Nadia Zaman, an employment lawyer of Rudner Law, feels that a high roof makes sense, especially for workers who have long been with a company.
They are usually entitled to much more than the cap of Wepp, so the program essentially puts them “in a disadvantage”, he said.
While many people do not feel that the program exists or some ideasicians understand workers when their company goes out of business, Zaman said that the Gulf is putting a spotlight on labor relations.
“Many people who are not personally through the situation are becoming more aware of it,” he said, “and they are also looking for change, even if they are not personally affected.”
The possibility of converting the desire of change into real change may seem “severe”, which accepts ONG in the Workers Action Center.
Labor workers have seen the speed in disappointment earlier.
For example, the 2014 Ontario Bill pushed businesses to insure long -term disability benefits, so they would be paid, even though an employer turned, passed, but seems to have been never enacted.
Parivartan, Ong said, “There is always a back and forth fight.”
“You win some things, you lose some things, change in government, but we need to keep pushing regardless of what happens.”
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 7 July 2025.
Tara Deschamps, Canadian Press
