Metro Inc. has reached a tentative agreement with striking workers at the grocer’s only produce distribution centre in Quebec.
Workers are expected to vote on the new contract, which must be ratified before the strike ends, on Sept. 24.
François L’Écuyer, spokesperson for the United Grocery Workers Union Metro-Richelieu, said the union will recommend workers vote in favour of the agreement, but “the final decision belongs to the members.”
“The strike will continue until they ratify the agreement in principle,” he said Thursday.
About 550 unionized workers at the distribution centre, including those in transportation and at the head office, have been on strike since March 30, demanding better pay and working conditions.
The distribution centre supplies more than 350 stores in Quebec, including Super C and Metro Plus.
Details of the agreement will be presented by the union to its members at the ratification meeting next week.
L’Écuyer said the union’s bargaining committee and Metro have agreed to a 22 per cent salary increase over five-and-a-half years in the tentative deal, including a six per cent bump retroactive to September 2025 and another four per cent increase when workers return.
So when people return to work, they will see about a 10 per cent increase, he said.
Negotiations came to a standstill in the summer as the company and union remained far apart on terms.
Metro presented an offer in June, which it said included “significant increases” for wages and working conditions and that the offer was comparable to similar roles in the market. The union later came back with a counter-offer, which the grocer said it could not agree to.
The strike has dented Metro’s earnings.
Nicolas Amyot, the company’s chief financial officer, has estimated the strike cost $90 million in lost profit and direct costs in its third quarter.
RBC analyst Irene Nattel said in a note that the deal is a “constructive step toward resolving the nearly six-month dispute.”
She said the strike will have weighed on the fourth quarter, which ends on Sept. 27, and some effects are likely to extend into early fiscal 2027 as Metro restores operations.
However, she said, the effects will likely be modest compared with the third quarter, “which bore the brunt of contingency plan ramp-up costs amplified by the timing of Easter.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:MRU)
