Premier hopes LCBO strike will be averted

Premier Kathleen Wynne is hopeful job action by LCBO employees can be averted so Ontarians can toast the nation’s 150th birthday on Canada Day.

While Wynne emphasized that she did not want to meddle in the negotiations, she reminded the provincially-owned liquor monopoly of labour law changes coming this year.

Akey sticking point in the dispute is that the Ontario Public Services Employees Union is accusing the LCBO of marooning workers in parttime positions for decades instead of moving them to full-time jobs. OPSEU, which represents the 8,000 Liquor Control Board of Ontario employees who could hit the bricks June 26, has said that’s ironic given the sweeping reforms Wynne’s government will enact this fall.

Under the legislation introduced June 1, employers will have to pay workers equal pay for equal work, regardless of their full-time, parttime or temporary status.

The new law would also ban companies from misclassifying employees as “independent contractors” when they are de facto full-time.

“I’m not going to wade into the negotiation . . . that needs to happen at the table and so they need to have that discussion,” said Wynne, who worked in mediation before entering politics.

“But in principle, do I think that it’s a good idea for government to set an example in terms of good labour practice? Absolutely, absolutely,” the premier said firmly.

In the recent dispute, the LCBO disagrees with the union’s claims.

It says its wages are “generous” with part-timers’ pay maxing at more than $27 an hour.