TORONTO – Hundreds of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) delegates are expected to hold an information picket outside the LCBO head office Thursday afternoon.
The delegates, in the city for OPSEU’s annual convention, and their supporters will gather at the Lakeshore Boulevard office beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Earlier this month, OPSEU members voted in favour of strike action by a margin of 95 per cent if talks break down with the province.
On Tuesday, their bargaining team announced a May 17 strike deadline.
“The central issue in these negotiations is: ‘What kind of Ontario do we want?'” said OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas, in a release. “Do we want an Ontario with good, permanent jobs with decent pay and benefits, or will we accept insecure, part-time temporary jobs that don’t allow families live decently and give our kids opportunities?”
The LCBO has said it is disappointed with the strike mandate.
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“It is not unusual for a union to have a strike vote during the collective bargaining process,” Bob Peter, LCBO President & CEO, said earlier this month. “Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue until mid-May. We’re looking forward to getting back to the bargaining table and working toward an agreement that is fair and in keeping with the economic realities and recent public sector agreements.”
Premier Kathleen Wynne said her government is not going to wade into the labour dispute between the LCBO and its unionized employees, despite a looming strike deadline.
Wynne said negotiations are ongoing.
“I’m sure that both sides will be able to come together and work this out,” she said Wednesday.
The union’s four-year contract with the LCBO expired on March 31.
LCBO workers voted in favour of strike action in 2005 and 2009 during the collective bargaining process.
The two sides reached agreements without a strike or lockout on both occasions.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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