Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

The groundbreaking contract imposed by an arbitrator at a Gatineau Wal-Mart earlier this month may be indicative of a growing interest among the region's retail employees to unionize, say two of the city's labour leaders.

The contract only affects eight employees working at Wal-Mart's tire and lube garage, but represents the retail giant's only North American collective agreement in place.

Mohamad Alsadi, an Ottawa-based national representative with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union, says that while labour issues surrounding Wal-Mart are atypical of most companies, there's a growing disconcert among workers in Ottawa.

"We are getting lots of calls from people complaining about the way they are treated ... The retail and high-tech sectors are definitely on the rise," he says.

Retail employees are increasingly calling to discuss issues such as scheduling, hours and a lack of respect in the workplace, as opposed to straight wage concerns, says Mr. Alsadi.

He adds he has no problem giving information to individuals who don't intend to join a union, and candidly recalls being asked what advice he'd give to an employer who wants to keep them out of their workplace.

"I had no problem giving that advice. Just treat them well and they have no reason to go to a union," he says.

It's a sentiment also shared by Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council. He says it marks a change from the past when unions would actively approach private-sector employees in an attempt to unionize their workplace.

Now, employees increasingly initiate contact with unions to ask how they should proceed. Mr. McKenny says in many cases, after hearing that their employees are considering unionizing, employers pre-empt the effort by treating their employees better.

"And that's OK with us," he says.

However, Mr. McKenny and Mr. Alsadi differ on whether unions will ever make significant inroads into Ottawa's tech sector.

There was a significant push several years ago to organize the area's call centres, but recent layoffs at Dell were enough for local unions to conclude their efforts should be focused on other sectors, says Mr. McKenny.

The high level of turnover in tech, where employees often move between companies on a contract basis, means the sector isn't as conducive to unionization as other fields.

While Mr. Alsadi concedes this reduces the chances of unionization, he says the nature of short-term employment means tech workers can't complain and must often accept conditions offered by the employer.

With an increasing number of tech workers contacting the CAW, Mr. Alsadi says the union sees an opportunity to organize area employees. "The high-tech industry is definitely one of the tough industries that we are going to have to crack," he says.