Everything is in place.
After months of preparation, OPSEU’s Liquor Board Employees Division – all 7,000 of us – are primed and ready to hit the picket lines. All it will take is one word – GO! – from the union bargaining team.
Strike headquarters are open.
Picket captains are trained.
Our radio ads are being broadcast across Ontario.
Local spokespeople have been talking to reporters.
Local treasurers are ready to write cheques for strike pay.
Arrangements are complete, with only last-minute details to be ironed out.
Your bargaining team is working night and day to get a collective agreement without a strike, but it is clear to me that if that proves impossible our liquor board employees are ready to jump into action.
If we do end up on the picket line we will start strong and stay strong until we get what we need. We must stay united!
We are fighting for our vision of Ontario – one with decent jobs for working people and a decent future for our children. When your picket captain calls, you will know what to do.
In Solidarity
Warren (Smokey) Thomas
President
Our possible strike will be legal. Management threats are not.
If contract talks with the LCBO break down and our bargaining team instructs us to take strike action, all liquor board employees must understand what the law calls for.
Under the Ontario Labour Relations Act our strike action is legal. We are fully protected by the laws of Ontario. We will be in a legal position to take job action as of 12:01 a.m., Friday May 17.
It is against the law in Ontario for management to threaten any worker for participating in a legal strike.
If an LCBO manager or any other non-union supervisor threatens you in any way in connection with our possible strike, please be sure to report this to your local president, steward, mobilizer or OPSEU staff representative.
Remember, the law is on our side.
Bargaining News Alert is authorized for distribution by Denise Davis and Warren (Smokey) Thomas