- Colleen MacLeod
- Damian Campbell
- Craig Hadley
- Jeremy Trainor
- Rachel Brunet
This is our moment: LCBO workers are ready to bargain
February 16, 2024
This week, workers won against the Ford government. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the previous Superior Court finding that Bill 124 was unconstitutional. The government has since announced that they will not appeal the decision and will instead repeal the unjust legislation very soon.It’s time for the government to accept that this legislation was wrong from the beginning and focus on fixing the harms they have caused. They need to make it right. As you know, LCBO workers are among the thousands of public service workers who were affected by this wage restraint legislation, which capped your increases at 1% despite rising inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.Worse, even though you put your lives on the line by showing up to work throughout the pandemic, the employer refused to provide you with pandemic pay in recognition of the risk and your dedication to the service you provide.Our immediate priority is to seek remedy for the years your wages have been unjustly suppressed through our wage reopener process. We will also be asking for you to receive the pandemic pay you deserve and should have gotten in the first place.Your Bargaining Team has reached out to the employer to secure dates for the wage reopener and to discuss the process as soon as possible.We’re ready to fight for the remedy you deserve for those years, and to bargain your next contract. We’re going into this round of bargaining more united and holding more power than ever before.Because of the incredible work LCBO leaders have done in recent months, we’re making plans to deliver our petition to signal we are united and ready to bargain.Together, you’ve gone from store to store and talked to your coworkers about the fight ahead and why this is our moment. Members at the warehouses continue to wear red every Thursday. We recently had a record turnout at a lunch-and-learn at Head Office, so we’re having another one next week!All this work gives us more power at the bargaining table. As we learn more about upcoming bargaining dates, we will keep you informed every step of the way.Together, we’ll win.In solidarity,Your LBED Bargaining Team: