Ont. liquor board, workers agree to extend strike deadline
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 | 11:13 AM ET
CBC News
Ontario's LCBO workers may be out on strike as early as Wednesday. (Canadian Press) The Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the union representing more than 6,000 of its workers have agreed to extend a strike deadline, meaning stores will continue to stay open for the time being.
"The deadline is extended until either a deal is reached or one or both parties walk away from the table. There is no fixed time for the extension," said a statement on the Ontario Public Service Employees Union website Tuesday night.
"The parties have agreed that the collective agreement will remain in place as long as the deadline is extended. Members should report to work until notified otherwise."
Earlier Tuesday, people had flocked to liquor stores across Ontario. LCBO employees are in a legal strike position and threatening to take job action unless they get a deal, quickly.
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.
"You can have your business spike over the holiday period and then have it fall off substantially during the winter months. And if you have nothing but full-time employees, then you have all these people standing around," said LCBO spokesman Chris Layton.
Caught in the middle are consumers.
Ashwin Agarwal was stocking up at the liquor store on Monday, just in case.
"We have a wedding for about 850 people, so I want to make sure we don't run out — or we don't miss out — before they go on strike," he said.
Patty Rout, an executive with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, says the LCBO has systematically changed its workforce over the years.
"Twenty years ago all the jobs were full-time. Now, they're all part-time and casual," she said.
Negotiations are continuing, but if a strike happens, it will be the first in LCBO history.
If workers do go on strike, the LCBO says its 800 managers will try their best to keep stores running.
But it also means the province could be out a lot of money. With a profit of $1.3 billion last year, Ontario stands to lose as much as $3.5 million each day of a strike.
With files from The Canadian Press
