1st day of LCBO workers’ strike with shops closed

On Friday, employees at Ontario liquor stores went on strike, the first in the state-run corporation’s history. LCBO stores are expected to remain closed for the next two weeks.

Striking workers gathered outside closed LCBO stores across the province, carrying signs and chanting slogans.

Natasha St. John, protesting outside an LCBO in north Toronto, said she was striking to protect good-paying jobs that allow LCBO workers to support their families.

“We really don’t want Ontario to have a dry summer, but we’re willing to sacrifice a few weeks if it means we can secure our jobs for a few more years,” St. John said.

Shortly after midnight on Friday, more than 9,000 workers walked off the job after negotiations between the LCBO and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) failed to result in a new collective agreement.

“We want to work,” says employee

Workers are demanding wage increases and more full-time positions. They say 70 per cent of their workforce is part-time and casual. The union also opposes part of the province’s plan to open the alcohol market so convenience stores and all grocery stores can sell beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails such as White Claws.

WATCH | Union leaders call Ford a ‘ghost’ at bargaining table:

Striking LCBO workers call Ford a ‘ghost’ at the negotiating table

LCBO workers across the province went on strike Friday after negotiations between the state-owned company and its employees collapsed just hours before a deadline. MPs blamed Doug Ford’s government for the failure and expressed concern that thousands of jobs would be lost due to the government’s plans to expand alcohol sales. Negotiation chair Colleen MacLeod called the premier a “ghost” at the negotiating table.

St. John said she has worked at the LCBO for the past six years as a casual worker – a category of workers whose hours are not always guaranteed and who are paid less than permanent, full-time employees.

Many casual workers have to work two jobs to make a living, St. John says, and some have to work for five to 10 years before getting a permanent job.

“As much fun as we have here, we just don’t want to be out here because that’s who we are. We want to go back to our stores. We want to work,” St. John said.

Trade union: Private sales will affect public sector revenues

Union leaders say the biggest sticking point is the expansion of alcohol sales, particularly in the fast-growing ready-to-drink cocktail sector.

They argue that the move will eat into the $2.5 billion the LCBO contributes annually to the provincial coffers, lead to job losses and store closures, and put money that could be used for public services such as health care and education into the hands of private companies.

“We know Ontario values ​​the LCBO, and we cannot trade that for our profits, Ontario’s profits, to end up in the hands of big CEOs, grocers, billionaires and friends of Doug Ford,” said Colleen MacLeod, chair of the OPSEU bargaining committee, at a picket in downtown Toronto on Friday.

“As workers, we stand here to say we will protect that $2.5 billion.”

An earlier expansion of alcohol sales under the former Liberal government, which brought beer and wine into some grocery stores, kept liquor sales in the hands of the LCBO. And until recently, Ford’s plan to further expand access did not include liquor.

OPSEU chairman JP Hornick said the union had no objection to Ford fulfilling his 2018 election promise to offer beer and wine in corner shops, but OPSEU wanted to keep the ready-to-drink cocktails out of those stores.

“The Ford government made these decisions to expand access without adequate consultation or thought about how to invest in the LCBO and how it could grow with the province,” Hornick said.

Figures provided by the government show that both LCBO revenues and payments to the Ontario government have increased steadily between 2015 and 2023, even as alcohol sales expanded to more retail stores and bars and restaurants were allowed to sell alcohol for takeout and delivery.

The figures also show that sales of ready-to-drink beverages accounted for 9.1 percent of all LCBO sales last year.

WATCH | Why LCBO workers are striking:

Why LCBO workers are striking

More than 9,000 liquor store workers in Ontario are on strike after collective bargaining between their union and the LCBO failed. As CBC’s Mike Crawley explains, the union is demanding that Doug Ford’s government reverse its decision to allow certain beverages to be sold in convenience stores and grocery stores.

Andrew Moore, who demonstrated outside an LCBO store in Hamilton, Ont., on Friday, said he was encouraged by the support of motorists who showed up and honked as he drove by. In addition to the potential loss of revenue for the LCBO, he was upset that the work was going to non-union employees.

“We didn’t really ask for money … we just wanted job security and they couldn’t guarantee us anything we asked for,” Moore said.

Province defends expansion of alcohol sales

In a statement Thursday, the LCBO called on the union to return to the bargaining table.

The LCBO also said union leadership had made it clear that it was “strike solely because of its demand that the government reverse its decision to offer ready-to-drink beverages (coolers and seltzer) in convenience stores and grocery stores.”

It said casual workers were entitled to benefits and half of them were guaranteed at least 1,000 hours of work per year.

In an interview with CBC’s Power and politics On Friday, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfavly defended the government’s plans to expand alcohol sales, saying the Progressive Conservative Party campaigned on the issue in the last two elections in which it won majority governments.

“Stakeholders have told us they have been waiting for this opportunity for decades and this will now help small businesses because consumers have wanted this convenience and choice,” Bethlenfalvy said.

Bethlenfalvy said he would welcome both sides making progress in the negotiations.

All 680+ LCBO retail stores are expected to remain closed to retail customers for the next two weeks unless an agreement is reached during that period. The LCBO website and mobile app will continue to accept orders for free home delivery during the strike.

If the strike lasts longer than two weeks, the LCBO says it will open 32 stores with limited hours three days a week (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

On July 5, five stores in key locations will open exclusively for restaurant, bar and other licensed customers.

Alcohol will continue to be available at grocery stores, private wineries, breweries and distilleries, as well as bars, restaurants and The Beer Store.