A strike of nearly 7,000 employees from the province's Liquor Control Board was averted late Thursday night after a tentative agreement was reached between the LCBO and the Ontario Public Service Employees union.
OPSEU president Warren Thomas announced that a deal was reached shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday. The announcement came hours ahead of a midnight deadline.
The terms of the deal were not released, as the agreement still must be ratified.
Throughout the day, both the LCBO and OPSEU were under self-imposed media blackouts. But both sides said they hoped to avoid job action.
In early April, union members voted 95 per cent in favour of a walkout in the event that bargaining talks failed.
OPSEU and the LCBO have been in negotiation since mid-February. The LCBO's four-year contract with its employees expired on March 31.
According to OPSEU, the main issues it sought to resolve were part-time wages, and improved health and safety standards.
All day Thursday, shoppers flocked to LCBO stores to stock up ahead of the looming strike. The LCBO said sales on Wednesday totalled around $28.1 million dollars, representing an increase of around 150 per cent from a “comparable day” in May last year.
Last week the board issued a statement encouraging shoppers to buy their alcohol ahead of time to ensure their long weekend plans were not disrupted.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Ashley Rowe and files from The Canadian Press
