If LCBO workers go on strike, Ontarians can live without them: Denley

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Thank goodness that Ontario’s courageous LCBO workers are prepared to stand up and defend the province’s vital public services, even if they have to go on strike to do it.

“We can’t stand by while Doug Ford gives away the LCBO’s revenues to big box and convenience chain CEOs. It’s on Premier Ford and the LCBO to make sure that public services and good jobs don’t get left behind,” union leader Colleen MacLeod said Tuesday.

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MacLeod is chair of the liquor board employees division of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). As such, the protection of good jobs is definitely in her zone; public services, not so much.

Unless Premier Ford’s plan to expand liquor offerings to more retail stores makes Ontarians thirstier, it’s not difficult to imagine that more sales elsewhere will potentially reduce the number of LCBO jobs. That doesn’t create any obligation for the LCBO and its owner, the provincial government, to protect every job at the LCBO.

The union wants more permanent employees and fewer casual workers, the opposite of what the LCBO needs when it’s facing a shifting and uncertain retail environment. Then there is the issue of money. The union hasn’t said how big a raise it’s seeking.  If recently arbitrated contracts with Ontario teachers are a guideline, OPSEU could expect somewhere between 2.5 and three per cent a year.

It would be difficult to justify more. Higher wages at the LCBO will mean either fewer dollars for those precious public services, higher prices for consumers, or both.

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When one works for a golden goose like the LCBO, it’s natural to expect more eggs, but LCBO workers are already well-paid compared to others doing the same kind of work. The LCBO says it employs 7,200 customer service representatives, who make up 81 per cent of its unionized workforce.  The average full-time clerk makes $31.46 an hour; three-quarters of them earn the top hourly wage of $32.58. The average casual employee earns $22.59 an hour. By contrast, the job site indeed.com reports that average pay for a Loblaw cashier in Ontario is $17.39 an hour.

Speaking of Loblaw, OPSEU thinks it has a winning tactic in attacking Galen Weston, the former CEO and current board chair of the grocery giant.

OPSEU president JP Hornick said this week that “Ontarians have a choice. We don’t have to let Doug Ford hand the alcohol market over to big box grocers and convenience chains like Loblaws and Circle K. We’ve had enough price gouging from them already on food and necessities. We don’t need the price of booze to go up too. We don’t have to let CEOs like Galen Weston win big while the rest of us in Ontario lose. We can and we will fight for the LCBO and strong public services.”

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Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will no doubt be thrilled to have a supporter for his one-man campaign against Weston, but when it comes to price gouging, the grocer has nothing on the LCBO. The government liquor store had revenue of $7.4 billion in 2022–23 and paid the government a dividend of nearly $2.6 billion, almost one-third of all revenue. Loblaw had a net profit of 3.4 per cent in 2023 and pays a 1.3 per cent dividend.

The union’s threat to strike as early as July 5 is a strategic error that will hurt its members more than the public. Grocery stores that already sell beer and wine will be allowed to sell cases of 24 beers starting Aug. 1. Convenience stores can start selling beer, cider and wine as soon as Sept. 5. The Beer Store will operate as usual.

Ontarians will still have plenty of choices other than the LCBO, unless they need hard liquor and haven’t stocked up before the strike. Even then, the LCBO says it will keep its wholesale and retail operations running with other workers.

A strike doesn’t seem like a smart play. If the LCBO stays open, the workers will have limited leverage. And a long-ish strike would only drive LCBO customers to other retailers, threatening the jobs and public services OPSEU holds so dear.

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The LCBO’s public sector workers are up against the reality that affects most people in the private sector: Their jobs depend on the success of their employer, and that is largely up to consumers.

Although the LCBO still controls all alcohol wholesaling, its retail monopoly is being weakened. That’s the first step toward real competition and a normal marketplace. LCBO workers fear competition because public sector union power depends on government monopolies. That situation can’t change fast enough.

Randall Denley is an Ottawa journalist.

randalldenley1@gmail.com

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