Unionized employees of the province’s liquor stores have voted overwhelmingly in favour of walking off the job should negotiations for a new contract break down.
According to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, about 95 per cent of its members cast ballots in favour of the action during a two-day vote that concluded on Tuesday evening.
The OPSEU represents 7,000 Liquor Control Board of Ontario retail staff, warehouse workers and head office employees.
Some of the main issues of contention concern pay for part-time workers, benefits and health and safety standards.
“The LCBO makes a lot of money and they can afford to be fair to workers,” OPSEU president Warren Thomas told CP24 Wednesday afternoon. “They have tabled a long list of concessions mostly of the backs of the lowest paid workers and it’s archaic.”
LCBO employees have been without a contract since a four-year deal expired on March 31.
Speaking with CP24, Thomas said LCBO workers do not want to go on strike, but will if they need to.
“I must stress to everybody in Ontario that our team wants to bargain a contract,” he said.
Talks between OPSEU and the LCBO began in February and are scheduled to continue through mid-May.
In a press release issued Wednesday morning LCBO president and CEO Bob Peter said he is disappointed to learn of the result from the strike vote, but hopeful a deal can still be reached.
LCBO employees also voted in favour of a work stoppage in 2005 and 2009, but both sides returned to the table and negotiated a new collective agreement before any action was taken.
“It is not unusual for a union to have a strike vote during the collective bargaining process," Peter said in the press release. "Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue until mid-May. We're looking forward to getting back to the bargaining table and working toward an agreement that is fair and in keeping with the economic realities and recent public sector agreements."
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