TORONTO — A deal reached earlier today to end a two-week-long strike at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario may not be final, as both sides are now accusing each other of acting in bad faith.
Despite trumpeting a tentative agreement just hours earlier to end the strike, the union representing 10,000 workers at the LCBO announced that the strike would continue because the employer refused to sign a return-to-work protocol.
The LCBO fired back, saying in a statement that it would file an unfair labour practice complaint against the Ontario Public Service Employees Union because it introduced "significant new monetary demands" after the tentative deal was reached.
The LCBO has said in a statement earlier today that a tentative agreement was reached and if ratified, the strike would end at 12:01 a.m. Monday and stores would reopen on Tuesday.
Workers represented by OPSEU walked off the job July 5 and negotiations had resumed on Wednesday this week.
OPSEU had said the dispute was largely about Premier Doug Ford's plan to allow convenience and grocery stores to sell ready-to-drink cocktails, saying expanded sales of the beverages will threaten their jobs.
The LCBO had said that wasn't a matter for the bargaining table.
The last offer that it made public included wage increases of seven per cent over three years, a special adjustment for certain warehouse positions, improving access to benefits for casual part-timers, converting about 400 casual workers to permanent full time, and improving severance provisions.
During the strike, the Ford government forged ahead with its alcohol expansion plans. Ford sped up the date when grocery stores already licensed to sell beer and wine could add the pre-mixed cocktails and coolers to their offerings.
Those grocers could place orders for the beverages starting Thursday and by Friday some were already appearing on store shelves.
Pushing that step two weeks earlier than planned was part of an already fast-tracked timeline to expand alcohol sales in the province.
Ford's previous plan was to get beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails in convenience stores and all grocery stores by 2026, but in May he announced that would instead happen this year.
An “early implementation agreement” with The Beer Store involves the province paying the company up to $225 million to help it keep stores open and workers employed. The province is also giving brewers a rebate on an LCBO fee that normally brings in $45 million a year, and it is giving retailers a 10 per cent wholesale discount.
Convenience stores will be allowed to sell beer, wine and coolers starting Sept. 5 while newly licensed grocery stores can do so starting Oct. 31.
During the strike the LCBO had been fulfilling orders online and for licensees such as bars and restaurants, but those venues had said their supplies were becoming strained as the strike neared the two-week mark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2024.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press