LCBO bargaining to resume Wednesday, union says

TORONTO — The union representing about 10,000 striking workers at Ontario’s main liquor retailer says they’re heading back to the bargaining table Wednesday.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario unionized workers walked off the job July 5 in a dispute their union has said is largely about Premier Doug Ford’s plan to allow convenience and grocery stores to sell ready-to-drink cocktails.

The LCBO has said its latest contract offer included improvements on wages, benefits and job security, but that the Ontario Public Service Employees Union announced the strike instead of responding to the offer.

The LCBO has said the public policy is not a matter for the bargaining table, but OPSEU worries that expanded sales of ready-to-drink beverages will threaten their jobs, as previous rounds of alcohol market expansion in Ontario have kept spirits sales exclusively in the LCBO.

In the midst of the labour dispute, the Ford government has published an online interactive map showing consumers where else they can buy alcohol during the strike, and has sped up its timeline for getting the pre-mixed cocktails into grocery stores.

OPSEU now says in a statement that it will present a plan for protecting jobs and the public revenues that LCBO sales bring in at the bargaining table Wednesday.

“When the team presents their plan, we’ll see if LCBO management is really working towards these shared interests for workers and everyone in Ontario,” the union wrote in a statement.

Ford has firmly ruled out a reversal on the ready-to-drink expansion, saying the ship had sailed “halfway across Lake Ontario.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2024.

The Canadian Press