LILLEY: Your local bar the only thing hurt by LCBO strike

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The striking LCBO workers tried to keep their spirits up amid soaring temperatures, oppressive humidity and a blistering sun on Friday. They waved flags and picket signs and called out for honks on Yonge St. south of Wellesley for much of the day but retreated to shade in the afternoon heat.

This LCBO location, the closest to Queen’s Park and the OPSEU union office around the corner, has been the site of plenty of protests and speeches since the strike began but after the first week, both sides appear to be at an impasse.

Premier Doug Ford has made it clear that he’s willing to make a deal on wages, full-time versus part-time and other union demands but says he won’t back down on the plan to sell ready-to-drink cocktails and seltzers in grocery and convenience stores.

“Let me be very clear: it’s done, it’s gone, that ship has sailed and it’s halfway across Lake Ontario,” the premier said Wednesday.

Union leader JP Hornick has been equally clear, they see this move as an eventual threat to unionized jobs at the LCBO.

Still, the decision on what to sell and where is not one that the union representing retail workers can set. That is a public policy decision that rests with the government of the day.

The LCBO has presented the union with a decent offer. The union simply hasn’t presented it to the workers. The contract offer includes wage hikes of 2.5% in the first two years and 2% in the third year as well as converting 400 part-time positions into full-time. There are also provisions for extending benefits to part-time workers and improved severance.

This is the type of offer the union should present to its members but that hasn’t happened in a formal way. After Premier Ford repeatedly called for the union to present the offer to its members, OPSEU held a townhall forum on Wednesday.

There were plenty of questions directed at Hornick and the union leadership about the offer but so far, no movement.

Most Ontario residents aren’t feeling a pinch at this point. Plenty of people stocked up ahead of time as witnessed by the Christmas-like sales volumes in the days leading up to the strike. There are also literally thousands of places to buy booze outside of the LCBO now and the government has even posted a handy online map to help you.

The Beer Store is seeing increased volumes, as are craft breweries, wineries and distilleries and the agency stores located in small centres are seeing a bit of a run on their stock.

At this point, the strike is only hurting the workers on the picket line and the hospitality industry.

The LCBO has never had to deal with a strike in their history and the plan they put in place to keep operating to supply bars and restaurants leaves a lot to be desired. The initial plan called for opening select outlets for commercial clients to stock up but that was abandoned over fears of confrontations with picketing workers.

The online sales system the LCBO wasn’t set up to allow bars and restaurants to order at their wholesale prices at first. The bigger problem was the website hasn’t been able to keep up with demand and orders often crash before checkout.

One bar manager said that they were only offered a handful of products to order from including mickey bottles of vodka, hardly useful for a busy bar. Others have complained about orders being cancelled completely and common items not being in stock.

As for getting the products to bars and restaurants, that has been a nightmare.

With this strike expected to drag on, the first victim might be your local watering hole.

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