What’s Next for LCBO Workers Who Just Led a Historic First-Time Strike Across Ontario?

The first LCBO strike in history was a fight for Ontario.   

On July 3rd, more than 9,000 unionized workers for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) shut down hundreds of stores across Ontario after Doug Ford announced plans to accelerate province-wide alcohol privatization. After two weeks of being on strike, workers voted to ratify a new contract between their union, Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), and the LCBO. 

“We went on strike to protect good jobs and public revenues, and to win more permanent jobs with benefits and guaranteed hours,” said OPSEU Bargaining Team Chair Colleen Macloed in a press release. “Our members stood strong. They held strong lines, they talked to their communities – and they won.” 

Steven Tufts, a labour geography professor at York University, told PressProgress that he thinks this strike marks “the start of a longer struggle over how liquor is sold, and who gets to profit from it in Ontario.”

“I think the struggle is going to continue for a few rounds of bargaining until it settles into an agreement and pattern that folks are happy with.”

Workers were focused on saving public services 

PressProgress spoke to LCBO workers about their experience on the historic picket line to get a better idea of what it was like on strike, what’s changing, and what to expect moving forward. 

On a hot, humid day outside an LCBO in Waterloo, Maria, an LCBO casual worker, told PressProgress that she and her fellow co-workers went on strike for the “bigger picture” of fighting Doug Ford. 

“We’re out here, obviously, for a better negotiation for ourselves. But we’re (also)out for the people. We’re fighting the fight for the province of Ontario. It’s a bigger picture than just ‘I want my job back.’” 

Overall, Maria says that the public also supported the LCBO workers’ fight. Drivers passed with cheer and honks. Others brought workers Timbits and bottled water on hot days. Some asked to join the picket line and hold up signs. 

Photo: Nadia Khan (PressProgress)

Laurie, another casual worker at an LCBO in Kitchener, went on strike to defend public revenue. Her own determination resulted in a direct phone call with Doug Ford, she told PressProgress. She says she asked Ford whether he planned to introduce ready-to-drink beverages (RTDs) as a “gateway” for bringing more alcohol products into big-box stores, which threatens LCBO’s role as Ontario’s main alcohol wholesaler. 

“I asked him, ‘Can you guarantee us that you’re not going to put bottles of liquor into [grocery] stores?’ He wouldn’t give a straight answer.” 

In the new agreement, the LCBO will ensure there will be “no retail store closures related to marketplace expansion for life of the collective agreement.” Still, the first phase of Ford’s plan starts on August 1, with the sale of ready-to-drink beverages (RTD’s) in up-to 450 grocery stores. 

While OPSEU didn’t stop ready-to-drink beverages with this round of bargaining, they did “draw a line in the sand and say, ‘This is going to be an issue for us,”’ Tufts explained.

“I think that it was significant that they got some guarantees against closures of stores for at least two to three years.” This, Tufts says, “buys them time” to protect jobs and limit store closures. 

“And the LCBO can’t just simply start closing stores right away as they adjust to a new retail environment. And that buys them some time to maybe rollback some of the privatization initiatives during an election cycle.”

Working towards more stable jobs  

The strike was also deeply personal for workers whose job security has been eroded over time.

Laurie, a 57 year-old LCBO worker from Kitchener, told PressProgress she often worries about finances.

“How am I supposed to pay my mortgage? My heat hydro fee? My family’s? Like, oh, my God, you can’t. So everyone’s thinking we’re making a boatload of money. We’re really not,” Laurie said.

“We would like more permanent part-time, full-time jobs in the LCBO. That would be awesome. So you gotta have more [job] security and maybe get some benefits on top of that, because casuals get no benefits whatsoever.” 

The new ratified agreement guarantees the conversion of 1,000 casual workers to part-time positions and 60 permanent full-time jobs in logistics, which Tufts calls some “big decasualization gains.” It also includes a wage increase of 8% over the next three years. 

“When you look at the differentials and benefits and some of the wage rate rates, paid to those different distinctions, it’s actually significant,” Tufts said.

But LCBO workers have fallen so far behind that some improvements on paper still don’t feel like enough.   

Photo: Nadia Khan (PressProgress)

When the LCBO proposed reducing the number of required hours for full-time benefit eligibility from 1,300 down to 1,000, Maria told PressProgress that she believed it ultimately wouldn’t “make much of a difference.” She argued that employees still have to work for five years in order to be eligible, in addition to working the required number of hours.

Maria said she personally spends “$150 a month” on privately purchasing benefits that she is not eligible for from LCBO. 

“Everybody should be entitled to health benefits, especially when you’re with a company for five years, and you’re giving them all your loyalty. (It’s) scary not having any benefits.” 

Fighting for safety for workers and the public 

Another priority for LCBO workers was maintaining proper training and safety in province-wide alcohol distribution.

Victoria, a casual worker at the LCBO for the past few years, said that in her experience, she’s been “yelled at a lot for asking for ID or not being able to serve” — and that extensive training goes into handling alcohol whether it’s serving responsibly, preventing alcohol theft, or carding people. 

“You want to have qualified people being in charge of alcohol,” Victoria explained.

“When minors get alcohol, it becomes a societal problem, because more drunk driving accidents, hospital visits, which we sometimes we overlook.” 

Photo: Nadia Khan (PressProgress)

Laurie also worried about having alcohol available in convenience stores. 

“Do you really want your child walking into a corner store to buy a pop or something but (stealing) a bottle of alcohol? Yes, it’s more accessible everywhere. Yes, it’s more convenient. But it also is more convenient for minors.”

Tufts explained that Ontario will likely transition into a hybrid system of both public liquor stores and private retail outlets, to convenience stores and grocery stores, “that might end up someday looking a little bit more like Quebec rather than Alberta.” 

“It’s almost like a succession rule,” explained Tufts. “If they’re going to sell alcohol in corner stores, at least give OPSEU the opportunity to start building relationships with these workers and control and have some say in the training and certification of liquor retail workers, because they do that to the liquor store.”  

“Next time around, will corner stores and convenience stores who have a voice with Premier Ford demand to get access to ready-to-drink alcohol as well? Will they demand to serve, be able to sell mickey’s of hard liquor and corner stores? Will that be their role to go forward and expand?”

 “I just don’t think this strike has ended things.”