Employees of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) are headed to the voting booths on July 13-14 to accept or reject a new contract negotiated by their bargaining committee.
The tentative agreement was reached on June 24th and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is recommending unanimously that members approve it.
It was clear from the start that these contract talks were about decent jobs that support families in a province that’s been hit hard by the recession.
When negotiations began on March 9th, the central issue quickly became the erosion of full-time jobs and the LCBO’s drive to run its operations with a casual workforce with lower pay, no guaranteed hours, no job security, and no benefits.
OPSEU says "60% of members in the Liquor Board Employees Division (LBED) unit are casuals who earn less than $20,800 a year on average." They also say that the demands made by the LCBO would have – if imposed – wiped out the remaining 2,400 full-time jobs at the agency, leaving no full-time jobs guaranteed year-round.
Understandably, this didn’t sit well with employees, particularly since the employer made $1.345 billion in profits during 2007-08.
Members were serious about fighting these demands – so much so that they were set to strike late in June before the employer came back to the table with an improved 11th-hour offer.
The MGEU’s Manitoba Liquor Control members, who are currently at the bargaining table, have been watching the LCBO negotiations closely and have stood behind their brothers and sisters in Ontario.
The fight to maintain strong, long-term jobs that can support a family is something the men and women working for the MLCC also know all too well. That is why their four primary goals during negotiations are to…
• Improve the scheduling process for full-time members;
• Negotiate increased hours for part-time members who are looking for more shifts;
• Gain a fair wage increase; and
• Improve benefits for all GOLICO members.