20 July: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and the union representing 10,000 of its workers reached a tentative agreement on Saturday, paving the way for stores to reopen on Tuesday. This agreement follows a period of contention, with negotiations temporarily halted on Friday due to accusations of bad-faith bargaining from both sides.
In a statement on Saturday, the LCBO confirmed that both parties have now signed the return-to-work protocol, allowing reopening plans to proceed. “We look forward to welcoming our 10,000 unionized employees back to work on Monday and opening our stores to shoppers on Tuesday,” the LCBO said.
Voting on the tentative deal is set to begin on Saturday. While employees will return to work on Monday, the stores will not open to the public until Tuesday. OPSEU, the union representing the workers, released a statement expressing satisfaction with the agreement, stating it protects jobs and public revenues generated by the LCBO.
“The workers have made it clear to Ontarians that Doug Ford’s alcohol-everywhere plan directly threatened jobs and public revenues,” said Colleen MacLeod, Chair of the Bargaining Team. “While this round of bargaining isn’t over until the deal is ratified, I’m incredibly proud of the workers and the stand they’ve taken.”
Previously, the tentative agreement was nearly derailed when OPSEU accused the LCBO of refusing to sign a return-to-work protocol, while the LCBO claimed the union introduced new monetary demands. OPSEU president JP Hornick clarified that the union’s return-to-work proposals included compensation for striking workers, but denied any new monetary demands.
The LCBO’s statement on Saturday confirmed that the return-to-work protocol does not include any new monetary items. The tentative settlement provides for an eight per cent wage increase over three years, conversion of about 1,000 casual employees to permanent part-time positions, and no store closures during the agreement’s term.
OPSEU had expressed concerns that Premier Doug Ford’s plan to expand alcohol sales to convenience and grocery stores would threaten union jobs and the public revenue provided by the LCBO. Ford accelerated these plans during the strike, allowing licensed grocery stores to sell ready-to-drink cocktail beverages as of Thursday, ahead of the initial August 1 launch date.
