LCBO confirms strike over, stores to reopen Tuesday

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and the union representing 10,000 of its workers reached a tentative agreement Saturday, clearing the way for stores to open Tuesday.

Movement on the tentative agreements comes a day after a deal between the LCBO and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) was put on hold Friday after both sides accused one another of bad-faith bargaining.

Both sides have now signed off the return-to-work protocol and reopening plans were back underway, the LCBO said in a statement Saturday.

“We look forward to welcoming our 10,000 unionized employees back to work on Monday and opening our stores to shoppers on Tuesday,” the LCBO said.

Voting on the tentative deal is set to begin on Saturday. While employees will be returning to work on Monday, stores won’t be open to the public until Tuesday.

OPSEU released a statement on Saturday morning, saying they welcomed the tentative agreement and that it accomplishes what they had set out to fight for during the two-week strike.

"This tentative deal protects good jobs in every community and the public revenues generated by the LCBO," said Colleen MacLeod, Chair of the Bargaining Team.

"The workers have made it clear to Ontarians that Doug Ford's alcohol-everywhere plan directly threatened jobs and public revenues. While this round of bargaining isn't over until the deal is ratified, I'm incredibly proud of the workers and the stand they've taken."

The timeline for workers' return and stores opening is the same one the LCBO unveiled on Friday before the public wrangling between the two sides.

Mere hours after the agreement was announced, OPSEU said the strike would continue after the LCBO refused to sign a return-to-work protocol.

The retailer shot back immediately, saying the union had introduced new monetary demands and the employer would file an unfair labour practice complaint.

"To introduce a new set of demands after reaching a tentative agreement amounts to bad faith bargaining," the liquor retailer said in a statement yesterday.

OPSEU president JP Hornick disputed that the union had "new monetary demands," but said part of their return-to-work proposals included seeking to have striking workers compensated.

"There's a number of days for which they've been out, so they should be made whole for that time, because as we know, this strike was driven by an agenda that was well beyond just this table," Hornick said.

Saturday's statement from the LCBO said the return-to-work protocol signed by both parties does not include any "new monetary items." 

The tentative settlement published by the LCBO on Friday includes an eight per cent wage increase over three years, the conversion of about 1,000 casual employees to permanent part-time positions and no store closures during the term of the agreement.

OPSEU had said they believed Premier Doug Ford's plan to expand alcohol sales to convenience and grocery stores would threaten union jobs and the public revenue the LCBO provides to the province.

Ford has sped up those plans since the strike began on July 5, 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.

- With files from the Canadian Press