LCBO staff holding strike vote

Over 7,000 members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) have initiated a strike vote which could set off a potential workers’ strike at LCBO locations across the province.

OPSEU President Warren “Smokey” Thomas told AM640’s The John Oakley Show that the results of the vote likely will come down late Tuesday night.

“It doesn’t mean there will be a strike right way,” said Thomas. “And it doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a strike at all.”

The union president goes on to say they are aiming to get some leverage with a positive strike vote so as to punch out a more favourable collective agreement.

LCBO workers have been without a collective agreement since March 31, and Thomas says the major issues between the two parties is health and safety, scheduling, and job security.

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“They want people to work on their own in stores where there historically have been two people because of safety concerns,” Thomas told AM640. “They also want changes to shift scheduling in which part-time workers have been told they would get two-hour shifts every day of the year.”

The province’s move to sell liquor at 130 grocery stores in Ontario, and the intention to expand that to up to 450, has long been a sticking point for the union, labeling it as “creeping privatization.”