TORONTO - The union bargaining team for 6,000 workers at
the LCBO is calling on its members to deliver a strong strike vote May
20-22 to spur contract negotiations with the provincially-owned
retailer.
“The central issue in these
negotiations is, ‘What kind of Ontario do we want?’” said Vanda
Klumper, chair of the bargaining team for the Ontario Public Service
Employees Union and an LCBO employee in Stratford. “Do we want good
permanent jobs with decent pay and benefits so regular people can live
decently, or will we accept part-time, insecure, throwaway jobs that
don’t allow us to bring our kids up properly or offer any hope for the
future?”
Despite annual profits which exceed $200,000 per worker,
the LCBO has aggressively driven down labour costs by eliminating
permanent jobs and replacing them with lower-paid “casual” jobs with no
benefits and no guaranteed hours of work.
Sixty per cent of LCBO staff now work as casuals with an
average annual income less than $20,800. So-called “fixed term” casuals
employed during the summer and in December earn just $10 an hour.
“Last week, our employer tabled a proposal that sounded
the death knell for the remaining full-time, year-round, permanent jobs
that we do have,” said Klumper. “We don’t accept that a highly
profitable employer like the LCBO cannot provide good jobs, and we don’t
think the people of Ontario should accept it either.”
The union will be asking Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty
to take an interest in the negotiations, said OPSEU President Warren
(Smokey) Thomas.
“Mr. McGuinty has voiced his support for good jobs for
Ontario families on many occasions,” Thomas said. “OPSEU members are
keen to have his support.”
OPSEU intends to return to the bargaining table
immediately after the strike vote is taken. The union has not set a
deadline for the talks.
The OPSEU collective agreement with the LCBO expired
March 31, 2009.
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