LCBO workers' union ramps up pressure amid 5th day of strike
CBC
The union representing Ontario liquor store workers has ramped up pressure in a five-day-old strike, with no talks planned to hammer out a deal.
Thousands of workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario walked off the job Friday. The LCBO, in turn, shuttered its stores across the province for two weeks.
At an LCBO distribution centre in Mississauga, Ont., several dozen workers on the picket line delayed delivery trucks entering the warehouse on Tuesday.
"We are slowing the flow of vehicles in and out of the LCBO facility on this property so that their ability to get orders out is reduced," said Patricia Roode, a customs clerk in the LCBO's transportation division.
Similar actions are playing out at other distribution centres, Roode said.
The LCBO has brought in scab workers in an attempt to fulfil warehouse orders, she said.
The Crown corporation had intended to open five distribution centres this week to help get booze into restaurants, bars, hotels, convention centres and other licensees across the province. The LCBO now says that will not happen due to picketing at the locations and it will instead offer online ordering for smaller orders.
"In light of OPSEU threats to picket these locations, we have made the decision to offer an alternative online experience for smaller orders," the LCBO wrote in a statement.
The union believes Premier Doug Ford's plan to open up the alcohol sales market poses an existential threat to the LCBO that will lead to major job losses.
It does not want ready-to-drink cocktails sold outside LCBO stores, wants the province to guarantee its jobs, as well as wage increases, and wants more permanent rather than part-time positions.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy has said the government is "more committed than ever" to its alcohol expansion plans in order to give Ontarians more choice and convenience.
The LCBO has said its last contract offer included wage increases and converting several hundred part-time jobs to full time positions.
"The LCBO did not want a strike, and we apologize for the inconvenience to our wholesale customers," the Crown corporation said.
The union has said the sticking point is Ford's policy to open up alcohol sales, which OPSEU wants changed.