Hudson's Bay to slash over 8,000 employees by June 1

As the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) store closures in Canada loom, so do massive job losses.

In a court document filed on Monday, North America's oldest company revealed that June 1 will mark the closure of over 80 stores after a months-long liquidation process that began in late March.

The Bay stated that the shuttering of its stores in Canada on Sunday will also bring the termination of approximately 8,347 employees, which is about 89 per cent of its workforce. HBC employs around 9,400 people, including 647 who are unionized.

According to the court documents, the remaining 1,017 workers include distribution centre employees. Distribution centres are expected to shut down on June 15, which is when approximately 899 of the remaining Hudson's Bay workers are expected to be terminated.

HBC says that the Wage Earner Protection Program Act (WEPPA) allows eligible former employees to collect certain eligible wages, including termination and severance pay.

In March, one of the unions representing the Bay employees in Canada demanded that the company pay workers severance amid liquidation.

"We demand that HBC honour its commitments — wages, benefits, and severance must be paid. No backroom deals, no vague promises — workers deserve full transparency," reads a statement from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

Around the start of its liquidation process, the 355-year-old retail institution also received some flack after awarding $3 million in bonuses to executives and managers.

We have reached out to the CLC for comment on the upcoming terminations.

Unifor Locals 40 and 240 represent around 595 HBC employees at stores in Windsor, Kitchener, Toronto's Sherway Gardens, and workers at the company's e-commerce warehouse in Scarborough.

The union has organized rallies in the respective locations on Tuesday, calling on Hudson's Bay to "honour its obligations to employees by protecting wages, pensions, and benefits."

It's also pushing for urgent federal insolvency law reform to better protect workers in "corporate failures."

"The union's demands include raising the cap on the Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP), strengthening super-priority status for workers' claims, holding corporate directors liable for unpaid compensation, and establishing trust-held or federally guaranteed funds to ensure workers are made whole," reads a statement from Unifor on Monday.

The Bay confirmed in late April that it would shutter the last six stores that initially weren't part of the liquidation.