Ontario group says LCBO strike would hurt restaurants still recovering from pandemic
Global News
LCBO workers in Ontario will walk off the job on July 5 if they don't reach a deal with the provincial agency by then. The sale of beer in convenience stores is a sticking point.
Bars and restaurants in Ontario are bracing for the impacts of a potential LCBO strike if it goes ahead in July, with one industry group saying industrial action could impact the delivery of wine and spirits for businesses still recovering from the pandemic.
Unionized liquor store workers are less than three weeks away from a potential strike if a deal cannot be reached in mediator-led talks between the union and the LCBO.
On Tuesday, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) announced it had been granted a no-board report by the Ministry of Labour, as negotiations with the LCBO stall. Its members voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action just days earlier.
The no-board report triggers a 17-day countdown to put the union in a legal strike position by July 5. Union leaders underscored on Tuesday that if they didn’t have a deal thrashed out with the LCBO by then, they would walk off the job.
Tony Elenis, the president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, told Global News many bars and restaurants fear a strike would put them in a precarious position.
“Our core product still is at the LCBO and it is critical that this strike doesn’t go through (and that) there is a contingency to be able to distribute to licensees,” he said.
Many businesses rely on regular orders dictated by cash flow and do not have a large stockpile of alcohol if deliveries were to be disrupted, Elenis added.
A spokesperson for the LCBO would not comment on how a strike would impact its delivery network to bars and restaurants. Nor would it explain what contingencies, if any were being worked out.
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