(Whitby, ON
– November 13) – Dozens of members
of OPSEU’s Liquor Board Employees
Division (LBED) staged a noon hour
information picket today to protest
increasing levels of bullying and
harassment inside the massive
warehouse depot.
“We’re fed
up with the bullying against our
members and management’s refusal to
acknowledge they’ve got a serious
problem on their hands,” said Denise
Davis, president of LBED Local 378.
“With the
busy holiday season just around the
corner the last thing the LCBO needs
is a situation where our members are
working in fear because of the
actions of certain managers inside
the warehouse.”
Davis cited
the following examples of the
bullying and harassment faced by
members of Local 378:
-
The use of surveillance cameras
on employees for reasons other
than security;
-
Monitoring, and then
disciplining employees, for the
amount of time it takes to walk
to-and-from the cafeteria during
breaks, a distance of more than
200 metres in some cases;
-
Disciplinary notices delivered
to the homes of employees,
instead of inside the workplace;
-
Security guards who monitor
washrooms, observing their use
by employees;
-
Shared use of workplace clothing
by employees without proper
hygienic cleaning.
Davis said
the relentless harassment is raising
serious health and safety concerns.
She said employees have experienced
panic attacks, palpitations, stress,
depression, chronic fatigue and
increased levels of absenteeism
caused by the harassment meted out
by some managers.
“The
situation is becoming intolerable
and we’re calling on the highest
levels of management to deal with
this problem immediately,” she said.
