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MPP Lisa Gretzky on the LCBO strike · Kvetch & Release

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  Keeping our eye right now on what's being called by the union Fords dry summer,
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  all LCBO stores closed, workers on strike, over nine thousand employees hitting
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  the picket lines. An agreement was not reached, and here we are,
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  and we know that there are long lineups at the outlet stores right now.
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  We were just hearing from Kathy McMahon over in the newsroom that there are people
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  picketing at the Roundhouse Center l CBO as well as at the Ambassador Plaza on
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  here on Church and it's a big deal. We've never seen this before,
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  the first time that the Crown Corp has gone on strike historic four seventeen.
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  Here on Am eight hundred. Joining me to discuss is the Member of Provincial
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  Parliament for Windsor West, Lisa Gretzky to discuss. Lisa, how are you.
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  I'm doing well? John, how are you? Hey? I'm doing
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  well. Thanks. Probably better than someone who's trying to go to a LCBO
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  right now but are not able to that's possible. I would tell you my
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  son works at the Gearstore of Downtown and when he left for his shifts in
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  this morning, he said he supports the workers at the LCBO, but he
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  was expecting a rough day today at work. I'd imagine that they're going to
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  get slammed absolutely. So, Hey, what's your thought right off the bat
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  here? I mean, this is historic, This has never happened before.
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  Yeah, I think it's indicative to the Ford government. I mean there's been
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  many many governments in the history of the LCBO and there has not been a
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  strike. And what we have is a current Conservative government who is selling off
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  and privatizing our public services and giving those two people like Galen Weston that owns
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  lab laws or in our area they're called Zayers and seven eleven and you know
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  service Ontario to places like Staples and without without really a thought to the local
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  workforce or to in this case, the two point five billion dollars that the
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  LCBO brings in for the province that should be getting reinvested into public services like
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  healthcare and education. Is there, like, do you think that is this
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  just a regular job action that's occurring right now? You know, negotiations break
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  down often when it comes to labor issues and they get resolved and that's just
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  sort of how things work, and you know the public has to deal with
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  that sometimes. Or do you think that there is actually more of an existential
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  threat here. I mean, you're talking about how he is already privatizing other
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  aspects that we have been traditionally dependent upon in the public sector. Do you
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  think that there is a broader strategy here that maybe we haven't been told about
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  regarding the LCBO. There is, there, absolutely is. I spent a
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  time in the picket line today at Ambassador Plaza Roundhouse and out on those on
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  and I will tell you that not a single person on those lines. Although
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  you know salary is always a point of discussion in negotiation, and the number
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  of casual workers that they're using there is also a point of discussion, but
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  that never came up once on the picket line. Every single one of those
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  workers and every single sign they're holding up is fighting to keep the money that
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  is generated through profits at the LCBO that two point five billions, to keep
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  that in public hands, going back into our publicly funded, publicly delivered,
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  not for profit healthcare system, to go back into our public education system,
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  to social services and other public services that we all rely on, instead of
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  going into the hands of some large corporations who don't contribute to those social safety
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  nets that we all rely on. There was not a single worker who was
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  talking about how this impacts them specifically when it comes to salaries or work hours.
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  It was all about fighting the privatization of our public services and what we
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  see this current conservative government doing, which is eroding those public services. So
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  I spoke earlier today with your colleague, although not on your team, Andrew
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  Dowie Windsor to come see and he said, look, we look at this
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  as an opportunity to actually increase the amount of revenue that's generated provincially because there's
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  going to be access points expanded, there's going to be the opportunity for more
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  people to purchase. What would your response be to that. I don't see
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  how handing over alcohol sales or expanding it to someone like Gailan Weston, a
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  billionaire that owns lob Laws and theyres and no frills, how that's benefiting the
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  public. Where. How is that money going back into our public healthcare?
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  How is that going back into our education system, two things that we all
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  rely on that are terribly underfunded already. But that's money coming out of the
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  public public dollars going into a private corporation bottom line or seven eleve expanding it
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  to seven eleven, and the workers have been very clear they're open to modernizing
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  alcohol things. That's not the issue. It's how the government does it and
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  how that's impacting not only their jobs, but more importantly, the public services
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  that we all rely on. Moving that two point five billion into the hands
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  of big corporations like blah blahs or there is not helping the public. It's
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  just going to make our public services worse and during funding away from that.
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  So this is not about not wanting to see some sort of an expansion or
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  modernization. That's not what the argument is about. It's like, it's about
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  how that happens and how we're protecting these jobs that are already here, but
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  ensuring that that revenue is going back into the public services that we all rely
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  on. So, you know, I look at this and if I was
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  in charge of the union, which of course I'm not, and that's probably
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  good for many reasons. Quite frankly, I would worry that as the Premier
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  is saying, look, we're going to be putting this in corner stores all
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  across the province, thousands of new access points, and the union striking at
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  this moment, you know, just months before that could be used as ammunition
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  for the government to say, you know, look, this is why we
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  actually have to expand alcohol services is to avoid this kind of a situation.
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  What do you think about that, just in terms of like the timing and
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  do you think that there's a risk there, How do you ensure that,
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  how do you get the public on side with you during that potential messaging?
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  Yeah, I think that speaks more to the premier and his character than it
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  does to the workers that are on strike. So if that's the premier's goal
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  is to try and set up a case. Again, almost one hundred years
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  and there's never been a strike there. And if that's the goal of the
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  premier is to try and make his case to take revenue away from the government
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  that goes into our public services, that speaks to his character more than it
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  does negatively, I would say, to his character than it does to the
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  workers that are out on the picket line. Those workers are taking a stand
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  for the greater good. They're out there fighting to keep those revenues coming back
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  in to put back into our public services, into healthcare and education and other
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  public services. So if that's his goal, if that's his plan, then
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  he really sugar reflect on that, because that really, in my opinion,
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  isn't negative on his side more so than on the worker's side. So I've
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  never seen a strike where access has been pushed forward and to be maintained as
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  much as it is under this situation. Of course, fourteen days they're closed,
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  but you can still order online, it will be delivered. Bars are
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  still being stocked, agency stores are still existing. I find it really interesting
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  when you look at it through that perspective. Of course, there's still the
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  other access points, the beer store, wineries, distilleries of breweries, all
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  of those. What would you say to the you know and your your average
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  constituent who was looking to go to the l CBO maybe pick up a bottle
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  of vodka or rum or rye or whatever it is, and they're obviously going
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  to have to cross a picket line, what would you say to you know,
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  your average winds right, don't cross a picket line. Don't across the
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  picket line. We have lots of local businesses here, uh that that make
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  alcohol, and you can go to some of our local craft breweries and other
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  places and enjoy what they they make here locally. But this the current fight
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  that we're under right now as far as the l CBO is is to uh
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  maintain that those that revenue that's coming in, that two point five billion dollars
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  is actually coming in and going into supporting our public services like healthcare and public
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  education, rather than going to someone like Dalen Weston who's going to pocket it.
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  This isn't about uh, you know, mom and popcorn owner stores distributing
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  alcohol. Uh, That's not what this argument is about. This is not
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  what the strike is about. This. This is about the government taking revenues
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  that normally would go into our public services and handing those over to private corporations
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  who have no intention, no intention of putting that back into public services that
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  we all rely on. So I encourage people to join their workers on the
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  picket line and if you you want to have a drink, visit some of
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  our local restaurants and some of our local folks that are making dear and spirits
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  and they could they could really use the support as well. Absolutely. Well,
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  I'm not surprised that you would say, don't cross the picket line,
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  but I want to go. I wanted to hold your feet to the fire
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  and get you to say it on the radio. Lisa, I want to
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  thank you so much for your time. Have a great weekend. Thank you,
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  John, you too, Thank you so much. Lisa Gretzky is our
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  Member of provincial Parliament for Windsor West