As LCBO strike deadline looms, nervous customers stock up

LCBO stores across Ontario are expecting more foot traffic from customers ahead of a strike deadline this week that might see thousands of unionized workers walk off the job.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, or OPSEU, which represents about 10,000 Liquor Control Board of Ontario workers, will be in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. Friday if a deal isn’t reached with the Crown corporation that retails alcohol.

In a strike preparedness plan released publicly in June, the LCBO said it would extend hours at many of its locations and encouraged customers to “shop early and stock up on preferred products.”

Should the OPSEU go on strike, all stores will close for 14 days before transitioning to a new system. In the meantime, customers will still be able to shop online and at 2,300 private retail shops, the LCBO said in a press release. These private stores include grocery stores, Beer Stores and the scores of small general stores in rural areas that are licensed to sell alcohol.

But this threatens OPSEU’s bargaining power, as alcohol consumers have more private alternatives in the case of an LCBO strike, said Michael Lynk, a professor at The University of Western Ontario specializing in trade union law.

“Having beer or wine in most grocery stores decreases the power of unions – if I can get whatever I want by going to Loblaws or Valu-mart, I won’t feel the impact of a strike,” he said.

Consumer choice and the creeping expansion of the private market is a key feature of this labour dispute, which is much more complicated than a typical negotiation over wages or hours. A key point of contention is Premier Doug Ford’s plans to expand the privatization of alcohol sales, a move that’s expected to add 8,500 new purchasing locations across the province.

Starting Aug. 1, packs of beer and mixed drinks will be sold at grocery stores, while cider, wine and beer will be available at convenience stores from Sept. 5. The government has said that LCBO will be the wholesaler for alcohol sold across the new locations and claimed its revenues could rise by as much as $1-billion.

Colleen MacLeod, chair of the OPSEU bargaining committee, expressed outrage at Ford’s decision and said the move will undoubtedly hurt sales at the LCBO. She pointed to the $2.5-billion that the Crown corporation generates in profit every year.

“It will threaten hundreds of millions of dollars in public revenues that fund public services like health care and education,” Ms. MacLeod said in a press conference on June 18.

Salary increases for LCBO workers that keep pace with the rate of inflation are another key demand from OPSEU. Ms. MacLeod previously told The Globe and Mail that employees who currently make it to full-time status – normally after years as casual staff – make $16.75 an hour to start, while top earners might get $30.57 after nine years.

“We will not stand by and watch the Ford government threaten the very future of the LCBO … for the benefit of a select few, including wealthy CEOs and big box grocery and convenience chains,” OPSEU said in a June 28 statement.

The negotiations between OPSEU and LCBO come in the foreground of a string of recent strikes by unionized employees, including, most recently, Calgary-based airline WestJet.

Prof. Lynk said there have been more strikes over the last past years because unions have enjoyed more bargaining power, but that LCBO workers are an exception.

“Workers who work at LCBO want to enhance job security, and that’s hard in the face of increased privatization,” he said, adding that “the unions want to curb that degree of privatization … it will be difficult for them to stop it, but they can slow it down.”