LCBO union sets strike deadline

Workers will start picketing July 5 if talks founder

- GHADA ALSHARIF

Workers at the LCBO are in a legal position to strike as of July 5, if the union representing some 10,000 of the employees fails to reach a deal with the provincial agency.

"We chose this day because we did not want to impact the first long weekend of the summer," said Colleen MacLeod, the head of the union's bargaining committee, at a news conference on Tuesday. "LCBO employees also do not want a dry Ontario for the summer."

The LCBO on Monday sent a letter to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) to agree to a third-party mediator to join their bargaining negotiations amid a looming strike.

In the letter, the LCBO asked for the "mutually agreed" upon mediator to "join as soon as possible."

"The employer remains committed to achieving a deal at the bargaining table without a strike by employees," the LCBO said in the letter.