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LCBO - Countdown to Liquor Lockdown

by Blue Crush | June 23, 2009 at 05:21 pm

290 views | 40 Recommendations | 11 comments

UPDATE:

With talks continuing late into Tuesday night, the union representing the LCBO Workers have extended the strike deadline.

"We would not be extending the strike deadline if we did not feel that we can reach a collective agreement through negotiation," said Vanda Klumper, chairwoman of the union bargaining team, in a statement.

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The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is set to go on strike at midnight, prompting shoppers to empty shelves in many of our liquor stores today.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents more than 7,000 full and part-time workers, has been in negotiations with the board for more than three months to replace a contract that expired March 31.

Small restaurant owners say they cannot afford to stockpile their liquor and wines for any length of time, but they don't have much choice at this point.

The main issue in the negotiations is the use of casual employees. The union says employees who aren't hired full-time get no vacation, sick time, or benefits.
The LCBO argues that using a mix of 43 per cent full-time and 57 per cent casual workers gives it the flexibility it needs.

This will be the first strike in LCBO history.

A liquor store strike would be a double whammy for Toronto residents, who could face a sobering as well as smelly summer.

Toronto has been through just two days of a city worker strike, and already the garbage is piling up around the city. Summer's just started, the temperature is soaring and the pools are closed.

Moms are scrambling to find daycare, and residents are starting to use public parks for dumping grounds, after striking city workers imposed a 15 minute wait between people entering transfer stations.

Many Toronto business owners are upset, with just cause. It's starting to look like a smelly, dry summer - not quite so good for our tourism industry.

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Pythiian1

at 17:30 on June 23rd, 2009

Sorry to hear that Canada is experiencing some strikes over the summer. People can always go south :-)

Blue Crush

at 19:06 on June 23rd, 2009

I could go for some blue skies and fresh air right now...

What's making the problem worse is dog feces mixing with rotting food in garbage bins, and the stench is said to be unbearable.

"Instead of leaving your animal's waste in the city garbage bins, we ask them to take it home with them, put it in their green bin or some people have compost, (or) recycle it," Chris Yaccato, with the Toronto Beaches Dog Association, said.

Amy Judd

at 17:54 on June 23rd, 2009

Hmm, too much striking in that area of the world I think right now.

Blue Crush

at 19:01 on June 23rd, 2009

Much too much! I fear for the small business mostly, they are already hurting.

albertacowpoke

at 18:35 on June 23rd, 2009

Wow with all the unemployed in Ontario, it seems almost unreal that those that have work would go on strike. What are the issues in this strike?

albertacowpoke

at 18:37 on June 23rd, 2009

Here is more on the City Workers Strike in Toronto

albertacowpoke

at 18:53 on June 23rd, 2009

The main issue is the breakdown between full-time and part-time jobs, said Robinson, who added that 60% of LCBO workers fall into the casual worker category and earn an annual income of less than $20,800 per year.
“The central issue is what kind of jobs do we want in Ontario?” he said. “ Do we want ones with decent pay and benefits, or insecure part-time, throwaway jobs?”

Robinson said 88% of unionized LCBO workers who have joined the company in the last 10 years and 96% who came on board less than five years ago are classified as casual workers, meaning they don’t qualify for full-time benefits.

“Thirty years ago, (the LCBO) had all full-time jobs. Now we’re down to 40%.”

Blue Crush

at 18:59 on June 23rd, 2009

Yup, CBC says it's 43% full time, 57% part-time workers presently. Seems a lot of larger companies are doing that these days to cut down on costs, by eliminating the benefits.

Good for them, not so good for, say... a single parent that needs the benefits and stability, right?

Tamiya

at 19:41 on June 23rd, 2009

Stinky, Sober Summer in Toronto?! man, what is happening to the world.

;]

jazzyzazzy

at 23:03 on June 23rd, 2009

Toronto, Has just been ticked off my list of places to visit. Have a drink on me Blue.

Iffy (not verified)

at 01:57 on June 24th, 2009

Toronto is a city sadly in severe decline. Its best days were in the mid 1980s to the early 1990s. That was when the city grabbed the world's attention for being so diverse, prosperous, clean and culturally vibrant. Since then, it has been in decline, becoming more boring, dirty, chaotic, badly run, and catastrophicallly in debt (the main cause of all these strikes).

I am afraid the city's future is going to be bleak: more populated by senior citizens, and by impoverished migrants, leaving the city looking like something in Latin America than in the west. A heady cocktail of boring pensioners and crime-committing gangs.