nfitz
Superstar
It's also not unreasonable to simply buy a 12-pack twice as often.
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LCBO / The Beer Store
- Thread starter Whoaccio
- Start date
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gabe
Guest
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/05/21/9519981-sun.html
Last call for summer could come early.
Workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario started voting yesterday on giving their negotiating team a strike mandate, just days before contract talks resume.
"Typically, this is the way it goes -- we press them and hope that they realize that you're serious," said Vanda Klumper, lead negotiator for the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union. "That's the hope. A strong mandate from the membership will hopefully send the message to the employer that we mean business."
OPSEU has 7,000 members who work for the LCBO and they started voting at 9 a.m. yesterday. Voting will continue until tomorrow night and a result is expected Saturday morning.
Talks will resume with the LCBO and a conciliator on Tuesday, Klumper said. The key issue is the rising percentage of LCBO staff who are casual or part-time workers.
LCBO spokesman Chris Layton said he expects the union will win a strike vote but he's still optimistic a deal can be reached.
"We're anxious to get to the table, do some bargaining and hammer out an agreement," he said.
Last call for summer could come early.
Workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario started voting yesterday on giving their negotiating team a strike mandate, just days before contract talks resume.
"Typically, this is the way it goes -- we press them and hope that they realize that you're serious," said Vanda Klumper, lead negotiator for the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union. "That's the hope. A strong mandate from the membership will hopefully send the message to the employer that we mean business."
OPSEU has 7,000 members who work for the LCBO and they started voting at 9 a.m. yesterday. Voting will continue until tomorrow night and a result is expected Saturday morning.
Talks will resume with the LCBO and a conciliator on Tuesday, Klumper said. The key issue is the rising percentage of LCBO staff who are casual or part-time workers.
LCBO spokesman Chris Layton said he expects the union will win a strike vote but he's still optimistic a deal can be reached.
"We're anxious to get to the table, do some bargaining and hammer out an agreement," he said.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
At least in case of an LCBO strike, there are alternative sources: The Beer Store, the independent wine stores, and the wineries themselves.
Do the distilleries have outlet stores?
Do the distilleries have outlet stores?
Brian69
Not the Messiah
It's ironic that the Beer Store is the lesser of two options when looking for good beer here in Ontario but I'll go there if need be. At least my local one has a fridge with some decent single can choices (I don't like buying a sixer of anything let alone a 12 or 24).
Although I'd hate to see a strike I'm hoping (and expecting) many Ontario micros to be doing good business if an LCBO strike breaks out. Just within the GTA we have stores at the breweries for Mill Street, Steam Whistle, Black Oak, Trafalgar, Granite, Great Lakes, Old Credit and probably a few more I missed. Ontario is making great stuff these days.
Although I'd hate to see a strike I'm hoping (and expecting) many Ontario micros to be doing good business if an LCBO strike breaks out. Just within the GTA we have stores at the breweries for Mill Street, Steam Whistle, Black Oak, Trafalgar, Granite, Great Lakes, Old Credit and probably a few more I missed. Ontario is making great stuff these days.
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gabe
Guest
LCBO blows! I go to NY state to get my liquor it's a hell of a lot cheaper and better selection. i also try to visit the wineries in Niagara On The Lake as much as i can.
ShonTron
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Forty Creek does (my favourite brand of whiskey) in Grimsby. It's part of the Kittering Ridge winery.
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gabe
Guest
http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/486349
Start stocking your liquor cabinet now
May 27, 2009
Greg Mercer
Oh, the humanity! Just when Ontario needs a drink the most, we might be facing a strike at our unionized liquor stores.
Say it ain't so.
Seems the LCBO, the Liquor Control Bullies of Ontario, has grown fond of hiring cheaper contract and part-time workers over more expensive full-time workers. The Crown corporation says it saves money during the slow times and gives flexibility during peak times.
But the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says enough is enough. It says as full-time positions vanish, people can't make a living anymore. This week, the LCBO's unionized workers voted to strike if the issue can't be resolved in contract talks.
This isn't going to be pretty, folks. Shut down our hospitals, close our schools and halt our garbage collection. But, for God's sake, let us have our booze. Imagine an Ontario heading into a long, hot summer with the prospect of pickets outside our LCBOs and the stores' front doors locked tight.
We'd have only one place to turn to get our liquor. That's right: teenagers. Those rascally kids have been figuring out clever ways to get their sweaty hands on booze since minimum drinking ages were introduced. They're more resourceful than a Toilet Bowl Merlot-making prison inmate.
It's true: If you have a teenager living in your house, every opened bottle of booze you own has had water added to it. It's a scientific fact. Didn't you ever wonder why your scotch or vodka suddenly started tasting weaker right around the same time your little monster started high school?
That shouldn't be a surprise. Teenagers have had to get innovative. They've long been persecuted by the LCBO, which, if you can believe it, promotes the myth you can have fun at your prom without liquor. As if.
Not satisfied with harassing teens, the LCBO often picks on another defenceless victim: bootleggers. The Crown corporation thinks smuggled liquor and illegally made hooch is worth more than $661 million per year -- or about fives times that in LCBO pricing. Imagine all the part-time, casual workers it could hire with that.
Perhaps that bustling black market can be partially explained by a funny old law that allows Ontarians to brew their own beer and make their own wine, but forbids them from making their own hard liquor. So what if a bad batch of grandpappy's special syrup can make you go blind -- staring at the sun will do the same thing, right?
But back to the main point. As the LCBO and its workers sit down for negotiations next week, maybe we should be asking: why should consumers be held hostage by a government-run monopoly on booze? Why can unions threaten to lock away our liquor, when our cousins in Quebec, Alberta and across the United States can walk into any corner store for their drink of choice?
Don't those places also enjoy more stores, greater convenience, more discount sales, lower prices for popular and bulk items, plus longer store hours?
We've flirted with allowing beer and wine to be sold in corner stores before. In 1985, David Peterson and his Liberals campaigned for just such a thing. They won a minority, but we didn't get our corner-store booze. Maybe they're still working on it.
Of course, Ontario has long had a funny relationship with booze. This is, after all, the same province that once required customers obtain a permit to buy liquor, and, in the 1970s, changed the drinking age three times.
But more to the heart of the matter: The LCBO monopoly earned $1.4 billion for our provincial government last year, on top of the 12 per cent liquor tax they haul in on every bottle sold. Think they're willing to give that revenue up? As if.
Start stocking your liquor cabinet now
May 27, 2009
Greg Mercer
Oh, the humanity! Just when Ontario needs a drink the most, we might be facing a strike at our unionized liquor stores.
Say it ain't so.
Seems the LCBO, the Liquor Control Bullies of Ontario, has grown fond of hiring cheaper contract and part-time workers over more expensive full-time workers. The Crown corporation says it saves money during the slow times and gives flexibility during peak times.
But the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says enough is enough. It says as full-time positions vanish, people can't make a living anymore. This week, the LCBO's unionized workers voted to strike if the issue can't be resolved in contract talks.
This isn't going to be pretty, folks. Shut down our hospitals, close our schools and halt our garbage collection. But, for God's sake, let us have our booze. Imagine an Ontario heading into a long, hot summer with the prospect of pickets outside our LCBOs and the stores' front doors locked tight.
We'd have only one place to turn to get our liquor. That's right: teenagers. Those rascally kids have been figuring out clever ways to get their sweaty hands on booze since minimum drinking ages were introduced. They're more resourceful than a Toilet Bowl Merlot-making prison inmate.
It's true: If you have a teenager living in your house, every opened bottle of booze you own has had water added to it. It's a scientific fact. Didn't you ever wonder why your scotch or vodka suddenly started tasting weaker right around the same time your little monster started high school?
That shouldn't be a surprise. Teenagers have had to get innovative. They've long been persecuted by the LCBO, which, if you can believe it, promotes the myth you can have fun at your prom without liquor. As if.
Not satisfied with harassing teens, the LCBO often picks on another defenceless victim: bootleggers. The Crown corporation thinks smuggled liquor and illegally made hooch is worth more than $661 million per year -- or about fives times that in LCBO pricing. Imagine all the part-time, casual workers it could hire with that.
Perhaps that bustling black market can be partially explained by a funny old law that allows Ontarians to brew their own beer and make their own wine, but forbids them from making their own hard liquor. So what if a bad batch of grandpappy's special syrup can make you go blind -- staring at the sun will do the same thing, right?
But back to the main point. As the LCBO and its workers sit down for negotiations next week, maybe we should be asking: why should consumers be held hostage by a government-run monopoly on booze? Why can unions threaten to lock away our liquor, when our cousins in Quebec, Alberta and across the United States can walk into any corner store for their drink of choice?
Don't those places also enjoy more stores, greater convenience, more discount sales, lower prices for popular and bulk items, plus longer store hours?
We've flirted with allowing beer and wine to be sold in corner stores before. In 1985, David Peterson and his Liberals campaigned for just such a thing. They won a minority, but we didn't get our corner-store booze. Maybe they're still working on it.
Of course, Ontario has long had a funny relationship with booze. This is, after all, the same province that once required customers obtain a permit to buy liquor, and, in the 1970s, changed the drinking age three times.
But more to the heart of the matter: The LCBO monopoly earned $1.4 billion for our provincial government last year, on top of the 12 per cent liquor tax they haul in on every bottle sold. Think they're willing to give that revenue up? As if.
Brian69
Not the Messiah
On the one hand it's head-scratching to think one can make a nice living at the LCBO (full timers) when it requires so little to get into it. Clearly that's changing. But if it's about squeezing out full time employees for part time ones that's bound to cause a revolt so unless things get resolved fast this strike could take awhile.
A virtual "government run" monopoly should not be treating their employees that way. The LCBO will not keep knowledgeable staff if they turn everyone into part-timers. If I'm at the LCBO and I have questions, I want someone at the store who knows their products. MPPs should be putting pressure on the LCBO to change this policy.
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42
ShonTron
Moderator
Member Bio
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- Apr 24, 2007
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- 12,447
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- Ward 13 - Toronto Centre
Yeah, isn't the idea of the so-called "corporate responsibility" that the LCBO claims to have about having experienced staff that are not only knowledgeable about their stock, but also knows a few things about not selling to under-aged customers and people who are clearly drunk? They'll cave to Labatt and raise the minimum price on beer (as if that stops people from drinking too much), but hire part time and contract work like it was a supermarket? Why not just let supermarkets sell booze then?
I'm with i42. The LCBO needs to make some concessions to the union here.
I'm with i42. The LCBO needs to make some concessions to the union here.
Hank
Active Member
The LCBO needs to hire workers that can do the job for the lowest price, like any well-run business. If the part-timers' lack of experience means the customers aren't getting the required shopping experience, then that's a problem. BUT...the LCBO isn't (and shouldn't be) in the business of giving 'good jobs' to people just because these people 'deserve' well-paying full-time jobs. These people only deserve what the market can bear.
They're practically a monopoly: the market doesn't really factor into things here so much. This is all about politics, and all about the LCBO being able to claim they've sent a record amount of money into Queens Park coffers again this year. Market shmarket.
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afransen
Senior Member
I'm fine with having full-time workers, but I don't think they deserve $50,000 a year +40% fringe for glorified stock-boy positions.
G
gabe
Guest
It takes a lot of skill to scan a bottle and ask do you have airmiles? I was out of town Wednesday and stopped in Kitchener after work to take a bottle of wine back to my hotel room but the LCBO closed at 6 pm. Thank god for Ontarian politicians saving us from buying alcohol after 6 pm!
G
gabe
Guest
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1719847
Strike looms at LCBO
Kathryn Blaze Carlson, National Post
Published: Monday, June 22, 2009
As the city faces a strike by its unionized indoor and outdoor workers, Torontonians may be dealt yet another blow in the coming days, one that some may find even more intolerable than a loss of garbage or daycare services.
If the LCBO and its workers cannot reach an agreement by 12:01 a. m. on Wednesday, roughly 7,200 unionized employees will go on strike.
But whether the city will go dry during barbecue season is still up in the air, according to Randy Robinson, spokesman for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
"A lot of this depends on how the LCBO acts," he said yesterday evening. "They have about 1,000 managers who are not part of the union. They could allocate those people to staff the stores, but I don't know that they can do all of them."
Mr. Robinson added that the LCBO has not said whether it will hire outside workers. The retailer could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Regardless of how the LCBO responds, Mr. Robinson said workers are ready to picket the retailer's locations citywide.
"We won't stop someone from getting alcohol if a store is open, but we will let customers know what we are fighting for," he said. "We're going to try to stop the flow of alcohol by talking to the truckers and warehouses, by convincing them to not move the alcohol."
He said a key issue has been the LCBO's move away from full-time permanent jobs toward a casual workforce.
Casual workers, who make up the majority of the unionized staff at the LCBO, agreed last month on the June 24 strike deadline, according to a union news release issued yesterday evening.
Other issues on the table are sick leave, vacation time, wages and retirement.
"We are not bargaining to get a strike, we are bargaining to get a collective agreement," Vanda Klumper, chairwoman of the bargaining team, said in release. "But if the LCBO insists on destroying good permanent jobs, if it insists on crushing the hopes and dreams of our casual members, then we will not hesitate to take this battle to the streets."
Strike looms at LCBO
Kathryn Blaze Carlson, National Post
Published: Monday, June 22, 2009
As the city faces a strike by its unionized indoor and outdoor workers, Torontonians may be dealt yet another blow in the coming days, one that some may find even more intolerable than a loss of garbage or daycare services.
If the LCBO and its workers cannot reach an agreement by 12:01 a. m. on Wednesday, roughly 7,200 unionized employees will go on strike.
But whether the city will go dry during barbecue season is still up in the air, according to Randy Robinson, spokesman for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
"A lot of this depends on how the LCBO acts," he said yesterday evening. "They have about 1,000 managers who are not part of the union. They could allocate those people to staff the stores, but I don't know that they can do all of them."
Mr. Robinson added that the LCBO has not said whether it will hire outside workers. The retailer could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Regardless of how the LCBO responds, Mr. Robinson said workers are ready to picket the retailer's locations citywide.
"We won't stop someone from getting alcohol if a store is open, but we will let customers know what we are fighting for," he said. "We're going to try to stop the flow of alcohol by talking to the truckers and warehouses, by convincing them to not move the alcohol."
He said a key issue has been the LCBO's move away from full-time permanent jobs toward a casual workforce.
Casual workers, who make up the majority of the unionized staff at the LCBO, agreed last month on the June 24 strike deadline, according to a union news release issued yesterday evening.
Other issues on the table are sick leave, vacation time, wages and retirement.
"We are not bargaining to get a strike, we are bargaining to get a collective agreement," Vanda Klumper, chairwoman of the bargaining team, said in release. "But if the LCBO insists on destroying good permanent jobs, if it insists on crushing the hopes and dreams of our casual members, then we will not hesitate to take this battle to the streets."