LCBO strike to end Monday after workers ratify tentative agreement

Striking liquor store workers voted Sunday to ratify an agreement on a new contract reached between the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and their union.

The ratification means the first-ever strike at the provincial Crown corporation will officially come to an end after midnight on Monday — just over two weeks after it began. The LCBO says it plans to reopen all closed retail stores on Tuesday.

“LCBO is pleased that the renewal collective agreement has been ratified by employees,” the LCBO said in a statement.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said in its own statement that the new, three-year contract includes “significant improvements” compared to the LCBO’s last offer the day before the strike started.

“We went on strike to protect good jobs and public revenues, and to win more permanent jobs with benefits and guaranteed hours,” said Colleen MacLeod, chair of the OPSEU bargaining team. 

“Our members stood strong. They held strong lines, they talked to their communities — and they won.”

Around 10,000 LCBO workers represented by OPSEU walked off the job on July 5, forcing the closure of hundreds of LCBO retail stores across Ontario and limiting the availability of some alcohol products.

WATCH: Ontario accelerates plan to sell ready-to-drink beverages at grocery, convenience stores: 

The Ontario government announced on Monday that it is accelerating plans to bring ready-to-drink cocktails and larger packs of beer into some supermarkets. This comes as some 9,000 unionized workers with the LCBO remain on strike.

Union leaders framed the strike as a principled stand to protect the future of the LCBO and its workers’ jobs, which they argued were at risk because of the Ontario government’s decision to allow the sale of wine, beer and ready-to-drink cocktails in convenience stores and grocery stores.

They argued expanding alcohol sales to private retailers would eat into the LCBO’s revenue, reducing the more than $2 billion it generates in annual dividends for government coffers, and could lead to thousands of job losses within a few years.

The LCBO said that policy issue wasn’t one that could be worked out at the bargaining table.

During the strike, Premier Doug Ford doubled down on the alcohol sales expansion, allowing grocery stores already licensed to sell beer and wine to also sell ready-to-drink cocktail beverages as of Thursday. The initial launch for that step was set for Aug. 1.

Contract hikes wages, converts casual workers to permanent

According to the LCBO, the agreement includes wage increases of eight per cent over three years, an additional 7.8 per cent for the lowest-paid workers and a special wage adjustment for certain trade positions in its warehouses.

It commits the employer to convert 1,000 casual workers to permanent part-time status, hiring 60 permanent full-time employees in its warehouse operations and improved access to benefits for casual part-time employees who work 1,300 hours and 1,000 hours.

It also includes improved mental health benefits and severance provisions, the Crown corporation said.

The LCBO said the agreement provides “no retail store closures related to marketplace expansion for life of the collective agreement.” A non-binding joint union-management committee will decide the best way to implement marketplace plans.

In an interview, MacLeod celebrated those gains.

She said she believes the strike pressured the LCBO to make concessions it previously wasn’t willing to make.

 “I’ve been with the LCBO for 27 years. When I joined this organization, [permanent part-time] was gone. That position was no longer being hired into and the position was gone through attrition,” said MacLeod. “To revive that back after 27 years, no one thought this was possible.”

The LCBO said it welcomes back its employees and is focused on returning to normal operations to support retail and wholesale customers, as well as Ontario’s beverage alcohol industry. 

“We thank our customers for their understanding and patience as we make the necessary adjustments to return to the service levels expected from us,” the statement said.