LCBO workers deliver message to Ford government MPPs: Stop the sell-off of the LCBO!
TORONTO, March 12, 2024 /CNW/ - LCBO employees represented by OPSEU/SEFPO rallied in 11 cities across Ontario this morning, unfurling giant banners at the constituency offices of Ford government MPPs and an Ontario government office with the signatures of almost 7,000 LCBO workers.
The signatures were from petitions signed by the employees, demanding a stop to the sell-off of the LCBO by the Ford government in the lead up to their new round of bargaining starting this week.
"LCBO workers are organized like never before, and they're ready to fight for the future of the LCBO," said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick, who attended the rally at Premier Doug Ford's constituency office in Toronto. "We're going to stand together and do whatever it takes to stop Doug Ford from selling off the LCBO and to protect good jobs in every community across Ontario."
In December 2023, Premier Ford announced that his government will open the floodgate for big box grocers and gas stations to sell beer, wine, cider and "ready-to-drink" cocktails.
"We're proud that LCBO revenues contribute 2.5 billion dollars every year into the public services we all rely on, like health care and education," said Colleen MacLeod, OPSEU/SEFPO Liquor Board Employees Division Chair and Bargaining Team Chair. "We're not going to stand by while Doug Ford puts that money into the pockets of big box grocery store CEOs. We're going to fight him every step of the way."
The OPSEU/SEFPO bargaining team for LCBO members begin the next round of bargaining with the LCBO tomorrow (March 13th). The new round of bargaining follows on the heels of an arbitration award received by LCBO workers just this past weekend for three years of lost wages after Bill 124 was struck down in court and then repealed by the Ford government.
"We didn't back down from the Bill 124 fight, and we're not going to back down in this round of bargaining either," said MacLeod. "We are going into bargaining this week knowing that we have the strength of all of our fellow LCBO members with us at the table."
Today's LCBO Day of Action events took place at the following locations:
- Toronto – Premier Doug Ford, Etobicoke North
- Brockville – Steve Clark, MPP, Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes
- Hamilton – Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek
- London – Ministry of Labour
- Mississauga – Nina Tangri, Associate Minister of Small Business, Mississauga-Streetsville
- North Bay – Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Nipissing
- Ottawa – Lisa MacLeod, MPP, Nepean
- Pickering – Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance, Pickering-Uxbridge
- Port Hope – David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, Northumberland-Peterborough South
- Thunder Bay – Kevin Holland, MPP, Thunder Bay-Atikokan
- Windsor – Andrew Dowie, MPP, Windsor-Tecumseh
Images from Day of Action locations across Ontario will be posted throughout the day on our Twitter (X) account @OPSEU, hashtag #LCBOWorkersFightBack
SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO)
Michelle Langlois, OPSEU/SEFPO Communications Officer: 647-225-6597, [email protected]
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