Lucia Albino, Local 500

Provigo
Montreal, Quebec

It has been 17 years since Lucia left her native Mexico. When she arrived in Quebec she lived in St-Thomas de Joliette, the small town her husband is from. Then the couple moved to Montreal. Lucia didn’t speak French fluently yet, but she wanted to learn.

So she decided to look for a job. There was a Provigo near her home. In Mexico she worked as a salesperson in a boutique and she liked the customer contact. So she filled out an application and was hired as a cashier 14 years ago. Lucia worked in almost all of the store’s departments except grocery. Today she shares her time between the deli and prepared foods.

Before working at Provigo, Lucia didn't know anything about unions. However, when she saw television reports showing people on strike holding signs in a picket line, she thought it showed solidarity, that the people stayed together. She began going to union meetings, but didn’t clearly understand the union’s role.

Then, two years ago there was an incident at the store. She didn’t receive an assistant-manager position she had applied for. Lucia began to read her collective agreement and decided to file a grievance. Throughout this situation she felt supported by the union which made her want to become more seriously involved.

When the chief steward approached her at the end of 2008 to take the vacant assistant-steward position, she accepted. Because of what happened to her, she came to see the importance of the steward’s role. During her steward course she also came to realize that the union is a large family. By talking with stewards from other stores she learned that they had problems that were similar, and sometimes even worse, than those at her store.

Her work as a steward has given her the satisfaction of being able to help others. Her coworkers see that she and the chief steward take their work seriously. So they come to them with their questions. Someday she would like to become chief steward.

For Lucia, there is no question that unions still have their place, “Otherwise, who would you turn to when you have a problem?”