LCBO strike

[lister]

It was busy tonight at the Queen's Quay LCBO at 7pm. There were lineups but they were shorter than the typical New Year's Eve lineups. A few people were buying lots of stuff. (For beer it was mostly crap.) I picked up a few items that I was going to get this Saturday anyways. The shelves there were looking a little barren.

[SteelbackGuy]

I see no justification for that, either.

I personally see no justification in paying LCBO workers more than minimum wage.

I am securely strapped to the LCBO strike bandwagon.

The bandwagon, is a very small one......unfortunately for you I suppose.

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

I see no justification for that, either.

I personally see no justification in paying LCBO workers more than minimum wage.

I am securely strapped to the LCBO strike bandwagon.

The bandwagon, is a very small one......unfortunately for you I suppose.

It's only small because the vast herd of sheeple that populate this province don't know any better. The workers claims are ridiculous. There are people that go to college/university and spend thousands of dollars in an attempt to make as much money as you people do and then you have the audacity to complain about your job situation in the middle of hard economic times. Give me a fucking break.

Please, please, please go on strike. Maybe then the door to private retail will finally be opened and we will no longer have to deal with the nonsense that goes on at the LCBO. I was informed today Southern Tier stopped making the IPA. Great fucking customer service.

[SteelbackGuy]

I personally see no justification in paying LCBO workers more than minimum wage.

I am securely strapped to the LCBO strike bandwagon.

The bandwagon, is a very small one......unfortunately for you I suppose.

It's only small because the vast herd of sheeple that populate this province don't know any better. The workers claims are ridiculous. There are people that go to college/university and spend thousands of dollars in an attempt to make as much money as you people do and then you have the audacity to complain about your job situation in the middle of hard economic times. Give me a fucking break.

Please, please, please go on strike. Maybe then the door to private retail will finally be opened and we will no longer have to deal with the nonsense that goes on at the LCBO. I was informed today Southern Tier stopped making the IPA. Great fucking customer service.

This entire quote is so silly, it almost doesn't warrant response. Almost.
Sagacious as I am, I will still feed the ever hungry troll we have all come to love.
Southern Tier stopped making the IPA? What does that have to do with the LCBO? Last I heard we just got a new shipment at reduced prices. Not sure who you're sources are.

Please, save yourself some face and stop trolling the forums.

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

This entire quote is so silly, it almost doesn't warrant response. Almost.
Sagacious as I am, I will still feed the ever hungry troll we have all come to love.
Southern Tier stopped making the IPA? What does that have to do with the LCBO? Last I heard we just got a new shipment at reduced prices. Not sure who you're sources are.

Please, save yourself some face and stop trolling the forums.

Sorry, didn't know I had to spell out every little detail. I was informed by one of your amazingly well trained compatriots at the LCBO today that Southern Tier had stopped making their IPA, which is why they couldn't get any in.

My previous post isn't "silly" or "trolling" in the slightest. LCBO workers for the most part are glorified grocery stockboys without the slightest inkling of knowledge or skill. And just like most other unskilled laborers they don't deserve any more than minimum wage. If you don't like being casual/part time get another job. It's called the real world.

[Belgian]

I think you guys are arguing about separate things. SB is saying there are good workers with reasonable employment claims to address, and DOB is saying some workers talk like asses and should not be allowed to speak authoratatively like that ST IPA comment without consequence.

Both sound plausible to me. Many workplaces besides the LCBO support the existence of both very high-quality workers AND (pardon the candor) very useless people. Ask any owner of a company what percentage of hs staff is doing 90 per cent of the work.

It is understandably more frustrating to be told some smug, presuming jackass half-lie by a store employee, because LCBO has liquor retail by the nuts, and there's no competition for the pissed-off customer to go to and say 'screw this.'

Except Buffalo! And direct to brewers like Cool Black Oak Magnotta and Grand River.

[Belgian]

"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."

That's a very ironic go-to strategy. Don't we already have an organization that prevents the flow of alcohol and delays it in warehouses?

Regardless of how the LCBO responds, Mr. Robinson said workers are ready to picket the retailer's locations citywide.

Taking their personal safety in their hands! I'll be prepared for any uppity LC employee getting aggressive in my face... "you talkin to me?"

[Sancus]

My previous post isn't "silly" or "trolling" in the slightest. LCBO workers for the most part are glorified grocery stockboys without the slightest inkling of knowledge or skill. And just like most other unskilled laborers they don't deserve any more than minimum wage. If you don't like being casual/part time get another job. It's called the real world.

I'm really not sure where you're getting the idea that minimum wage is competitive for simple/unskilled labour in general, that is not my experience having worked a number of such jobs while in school, etc, several years ago.

While part-time 'grocery stockboys' do make slightly above minimum wage(as I well know from working at Zehrs several years ago), full-time ones earn considerably more than the part-time workers at the LCBO. Both full-time and part-time do the exact same job, with the exact same skillset, but those lucky enough to have those coveted full time positions make twice the pay.

That said, there's lots of other unskilled jobs you can get making lots more than minimum, I worked at Sears loading boxes into trucks in the warehouse, earning over $13/hr. At part-time. It wasn't particularly hard to get that job, and I would say that it was less stressful and easier than stocking grocery shelves(there was minimal time pressure, as opposed to having to stock an entire store of 1300+ cases of food and merchandise per worker in an 11 hour night shift on more than one occasion, in the warehouse there were many more workers and loading speeds were more limited by the conveyor belts than the workers. Not to mention the 3-11 afternoon shift is absolute cake compared to 9pm-8am.

I've also done office work, easier than both of the above jobs, for $12/hr. Low-level office work has got to be the easiest work to do(although incredibly boring), and it pays significantly more than minimum in every case I know of. I've cleaned the interiors of vehicles going up for auctions at $14/hr, also pretty easy manual labor that pretty much amounted to the ability to use a j cloth and windex. Plus on auction day, you got to drive the various trucks and construction vehicles up to the auction block even though you weren't even close to licensed to do so, that was rather fun ;p

So yeah, I'm not really sure where you get the idea that minimum wage is a an acceptable standard for simple labour, but it's not, and the few places that do inflict such an unlivable wage on their workers make me feel sorry for those who work there, and I would hope anyone stuck at it would look elsewhere, because minimum is not in any way a standard wage. There is no reason whatsoever that LCBO workers should be among them, period.

Also, if you go through a 4-year college degree program successfully to make $24k/year(intentionally, and not simply because it's a low stress/money savings job while you pursue other things), I'd say you should have picked a better degree.

[Derek]

While checking the weather this morning, I caught a CP24 blurb saying that the province would loose $5 mil a day (IIRC) with an LCBO strike.

No mention of the $$$ on their website, but it does say "The key issue continues to be the LCBO's move away from full-time permanent jobs toward a casual workforce."

I'm certainly in favour of full-time, well-trained positions over a casual workforce of boneheads that don't give a rat's ass.

The wages aren't aweful, but I think the employees really do deserve benefits. Having to work 2 part-time jobs simply doesn't provide the same quality of life as one permanent position. And I think that's reflected in the customer service. I know I couldn't do it (politely) on a daily basis.

[icemachine]

I know small restaurants and cafes usually just pick up their booze at the local 'BO, but do larger restaurants and bars get delivery direct from the LCBO warehouses, or do they have to send people to pick up from their local store?

[JerCraigs]

One of the critiques of Starbucks has been their tendency to use part time labour, to the point where they have had people sitting at home unpaid "on call" (i.e. they can be called in whenever needed but don't get paid until then.)

Honestly, if the LCBO expects to provide us with staff that have some idea what they are talking about, and retain the magical power of denying sales to minors that apparently only those employees have then having more people that are full time is likely a good way to do that. If none of the above is actually important and a temp staff with (likely) high turnover is enough, then why do we need the LCBO in the first place?

This is exactly the kind of stuff their union *should* be fighting for on behalf of the staff. I happen to personally think (as an outsider looking in) that striking is an exceptionally bad way to do it given the lost wages etc. for the staff. We shall see.

[SteelbackGuy]

I know small restaurants and cafes usually just pick up their booze at the local 'BO, but do larger restaurants and bars get delivery direct from the LCBO warehouses, or do they have to send people to pick up from their local store?

My store services restaurants as large and as busy as East Side Marios, Kelsey's, and Montana's. It is really up the them where they to get their stuff. That said, some places to have liscencee service centres that specifically deal with restaurants.

[tuqueboy]

My store services restaurants as large and as busy as East Side Marios, Kelsey's, and Montana's. It is really up the them where they to get their stuff. That said, some places to have liscencee service centres that specifically deal with restaurants.

presumably, the licensee service centres and warehouse sites would also be picketed, assuming they're open at all. by the by, i heard a rumour last night that management's planning to try to open a couple of stores, staffed only by managers.

[mjohnston]

I don't understand how picketers are allowed to block traffic and impede peoples' movements. IMHO, anyone who does that should be arrested and charged; it has nothing to do with the grievances they have with their employer. If anything, the only thing it achieves is to make people angry and create the risk of violent confrontation.

[SteelbackGuy]

My store services restaurants as large and as busy as East Side Marios, Kelsey's, and Montana's. It is really up the them where they to get their stuff. That said, some places to have liscencee service centres that specifically deal with restaurants.

presumably, the licensee service centres and warehouse sites would also be picketed, assuming they're open at all. by the by, i heard a rumour last night that management's planning to try to open a couple of stores, staffed only by managers.

Warehouses and liscencee centers will also be targeted. And management will open stores with the use of managers.

Now I am seeing a lot of stuff on the news. This is just what management wants. Create a panic in the public so that everyone goes and stocks up. Christmas in June for an already very rich and greedy employer.