Striking workers from the LCBO rallied on Upper James Street in Hamilton on Thursday, alongside support from other unions.
This comes as the work stoppage nears the one-week mark, with neither side of the bargaining table willing to budge.
The province-wide strike, beginning July 5, was the first such labour disruption in the retailer’s history.
It started after months of contract negotiations between their union and management failed to produce a new deal that all parties were satisfied with.
Workers with the Ontario Public Service Employee Union (OPSEU) say they are fighting for job security, after Premier Doug Ford unveiled his plans to sell ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol at convenience and grocery stores in the coming months.
Greg Scott, OPSEU VP Local 287 Hamilton said, “If you want to grow sales and profits for Ontario, we put 2.5 million dollars in the economy. That goes toward health care, goes towards education. If you want to grow that we are the guys to do it.”
Monique Taylor, MPP Hamilton Mountain said, “All of our social services depend on income like the LCBO to lose that to for-profit industries is not the way for Ontarians to move forward.”
In a statement on Thursday, the LCBO says it’s ready to talk about job security, wages and benefits if OPSEU is willing to agree that ready-to-drink beverages is not something that should be discussed as part of bargaining.
Greg Scott is the regional team mobilizer for OPSEU and says the move will lead to job loss, “70% of the employees at the LCBO are casual employees. Job loss is very easy. All they have to do is take the casual employees off the schedule and there’s no recourse for them.”
At a press conference Wednesday, Ford said he was not backing down on that plan, despite the current strike.
“RTD is off the table,” he said. “Let me be very clear. It’s done, it’s gone, that ship has sailed.”
LCBO’s latest offer to its employees includes a seven per cent pay increase over three years, benefits, and job security.
The union says there are no future talks planned as of yet.
– with files from Simone Gavros
