Employees 'collateral damage' in labour dispute: Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries president

The head of Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries says the union representing Liquor Mart employees is not wavering from its demands at the bargaining table despite "significant" offers from the Crown corporation, saying workers are "collateral damage" in the union's agenda. 

On Tuesday, after unionized employees began a provincewide strike, all Liquor Mart locations were closed except for five Winnipeg stores, which were kept open by managers, as well as one each in Brandon and Thompson.

The full strike is the latest escalation in a weeks-long labour dispute between Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries and the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents about 1,400 Liquor Mart workers.

In an interview with CBC News, Liquor & Lotteries CEO Gerry Sul said all of the components of a four-year contract being offered are not being communicated by the union to its members.

"They're affected by this. They've become almost like collateral damage of the union's mission to strike and take job action," Sul said Tuesday.

The workers, who have been without a contract since the previous one expired in March 2022, began a selective strike on July 19, which has previously seen unionized employees refuse to work overtime or receive shipments.

Two "significant" offers have been made by Liquor & Lotteries since union members voted to strike last July, according to Sul.

The most recent offer by the Crown corporation includes a signing bonus for workers who've clocked more than 330 hours in a year, as well as a two per cent wage increase each year, with additional bumps to ensure those at the bottom end of the pay scale get legislated minimum wage increases, Sul said. 

According to the union's last collective agreement, which expired in March 2022, full-time MBLL clerks make about $20 to $24 per hour, while part-time clerks receive $15 to $17 an hour.

If they were to ratify the agreement, their wages would increase to $17.68 in October, which  would put them at $2.38 above minimum wage, Sul said. That adds up to an about 14 per cent increase pay scale adjustment increase for distribution centre and store employees, and would affect about 800 of the 1,400 unionized MBLL employees. 

A conciliator met with the employer on Tuesday, and will meet with the union on Wednesday.

"They have not changed their position," said Sul. "They're coming in with the original offer and [are] unwilling to waver from that, so it does strain the conciliation process for sure."

The strike action has led to issues of stockpiling, he said.

"So it's draining the inventory even faster now."