• Français
FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagram
Find Your Local Union
Subscribe to E-news
 
Login
Contact

UFCW Canada - Union Logo

Canada's Private Sector Union

  • About Our Union
  • Media & News
  • Resources
  • Issues
  • Action Centre
  • Join the Union

Directions Newsletter

Target misguided shareholders about Canadian experiment

fShare
Tweet

Target misguided shareholders about Canadian experimentToronto – September 24, 2014 – To date, American retail giant Target has reported a loss of almost $1.6 billion from its train wreck of an expansion into Canada. Ignoring the advice of industry pundits and retail experts, Target opened 124 new stores in Canada at break-neck speed, refusing to honour the jobs of more than 20,000 former Zellers workers in the process. The end result left disappointed shoppers scratching their heads, employees with less hours and no job security, and shareholders demanding blood.

Yet, it was not so long ago that Target was telling anyone who would listen that its Canadian stores were going to make everyone rich. “We continue to expect to generate far more cash than we need to invest in our business, giving us the opportunity to return billions to our shareholders,” said John Mulligan, Target’s Chief Financial Officer. That was Target’s second-in-command, only a year ago, assuring shareholders that everything was under control in Canada, that consumers were lapping it up at the checkouts, that nobody in Canada cared about the company’s labour relations practices. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

During the first few months of Target’s venture into Canada, the company made a quick buck – to the tune of $86 million. But this was apparently not enough to satisfy corporate greed. Target began slashing the hours of its Canadian employees – sometimes by as much as half. Suddenly, retail workers who had worked at Target for mere months were being reduced from full-time to part-time. Adding insult to injury, the company continued to open brand new stores – hiring new employees – while continuing to cut the hours of existing staff.

When Target began cutting hours, company executives attempted to portray the cuts as something which was in the best interests of consumers. Again, this was not the case. Shoppers began to find empty shelves and not enough staff – unique features of Target stores in Canada which continue to this day. The cutting of hours was clearly in the name of profit, not in the interests of people.

Back to Mulligan, Target’s executives originally claimed the company’s Canadian operations would garner a hefty profit by the end of 2013 – an assertion which Moody’s investment group called “unrealistic”. Sure enough, Target Canada ended up reporting a loss of $941 million at the beginning of 2014. The dream was over – Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel resigned and Tony Fisher, the company’s president of Canadian operations, was fired. Shoppers were unimpressed and workers were left empty-handed.

  • Media & News
    • News
      • All News
      • Agriculture
      • By the Numbers
      • Campaigns
      • Directions Newsletter
      • Infographics
      • Politics
      • Social Justice
      • Women and Gender Equity
      • Young Workers
      • Health & Safety
    • Media
    • Subscribe to E-news
  • Join the Union
  • About Our Union
    • About Our Union
      • Find Your Local Union
      • National President
      • National Council
      • Constitution
      • Union History
      • Mission Statement
      • Annual Reports
      • Join UFCW Canada
  • Media & News
    • Media & News
      • News
      • Media
      • Subscribe to E-news
  • Resources
    • Resources
      • Union Training & Scholarships
      • Health & Safety
      • The National Defence Fund
      • Member Discounts
      • Great Canadian Food Products
      • UFCW Canada Equity Grant Program
  • Issues
    • Issues
      • Leukemia Fundraising
      • Political Action
      • Women and Gender Equity
      • Social Justice
      • The Union for Agriculture Workers
      • UFCW Pride – Union Pride!
      • Young Workers
      • Food Justice
      • Global Solidarity
      • Uber Drivers United
      • Conscious Cannabis
  • Action Centre
    • Action Centre
      • Paid Sick Days Now!
      • Stop the Hate! Support an anti-racist COVID-19 recovery
      • Add Your Voice to the Call for Universal Childcare
      • Take Action to Protect Farm Workers and Canada’s Food Supply
      • Show your support for frontline workers
      • Help Food Processing Workers!
      • Economic Security for All
      • What you need to know about COVID-19
      • Stand against conversion therapy in Canada
      • Support the expansion of EI benefits
      • Help support justice for First Nations children in Canada
      • Support Uber Drivers
      • Tell leading grocery giants across Canada to protect workers and ditch toxic receipts
      • Support good union jobs at The Beer Store
      • #NoMore campaign to end gender-based violence
      • Help close the Gender Wage Gap today
      • Stop Cargill’s union-busting in Turkey
  • Join the Union
    • Join the Union
      • Why UFCW Canada
      • Union Advantage
      • Union Facts
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Everything About Unions
      • Workplaces We Represent
      • How to Join a Union
      • Join Now

Login

FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagram

Copyright © 2021 UFCW Canada. All Rights Reserved
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Canada's private sector union