Striking employees of LCBO stores picketed outside Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma’s office on Thursday morning, a day before an attempted contract deal was announced and a few hours later was put in doubt to end the two-week-old strike.
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Just hours after the deal was announced, both sides accused each other of acting in bad faith.
Despite trumpeting an attempted agreement to end the strike earlier in the day, the union representing 10,000 workers at the LCBO said Friday afternoon that the strike would continue because the employer refused to sign a return-to-work protocol.
The LCBO fired back, saying in a statement that it would file an unfair labor practice complaint against the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
On Thursday, Dave Morrison, chief steward for OPSEU Local 165, said the bargaining team for the Liquor Board Employees Division of OPSEU walked out of negotiations at the 11th hour on Thursday, July 4 because a “take it or leave it” offer tabled by LCBO was not going to meet the union’s demands.
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Morrison said one of the union’s main issues is the casualization of workers, with 75 to 80 per cent of Brantford employees being without benefits, sick time, or holidays.
“They don’t know whether they’re getting 30 hours one week or zero the next,” Morrison said. “How are you supposed to live when you don’t know what pay check is coming and how much it is from week to week? We are after permanent part-time positions.”
He also noted many people are unaware that the LCBO’s net profits – worth about $2.5 billion per year – go back into government coffers to pay for education, healthcare, and public services.
“(Doug Ford) wants to give these liquor-based coolers out to the big stores – the Walmart’s, Costco’s, and Loblaws family of stores – to market and sell,” Morrison explained. “Those are worth close to $700 million in revenue. The moment he pushes that out, we lose and Ontario loses the money generated from the sale of those products.
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“Every single ounce of profit – after they’ve paid the federal taxes on it – goes back into the pockets of the Galen Weston’s and the billionaires who own those companies.”
Paula Sossi, an assistant manager at the Market St. S. store in Brantford, said employees miss their jobs and customers and want to get back to work.
“I used to live in a community where I had to pay for garbage bag pickup. I don’t want to see it happening around here,” she said. “Little things like that are bound to happen if the profits of the LCBO go out of Ontario and into the corporations.”
Brantford District Labor Council members, including president Cory Judson, attended the picket Thursday morning.
“We’re here as a labor council supporting these workers because they deserve a fair deal,” Judson said. “We need to protect good jobs in this community. We’ve seen the race to the bottom and It’s not sustainable.”
Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma issued a statement later in the morning saying he was aware of the peaceful picket in front of his constituent office.
“I strongly believe in free speech and bargaining in good faith,” Bouma stated. “This is how public discourse should always happen – peaceful and respectful.”
With files from the Canadian Press
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