‘They freaked out’: How a deal to end the LCBO strike almost fell apart at the last minute

The nighttime had travel and gone and nan first lights of early greeting were connected nan measurement erstwhile nan LCBO and its striking national came to an statement they felt they could motion connected Friday morning.

Talks were yet going good betwixt nan 2 sides, who were yet speaking aft 2 weeks of almost nary interaction during a province-wide liquor shop strike.

Talks yet resumed connected Wednesday, July 17, 12 days aft nan first onslaught successful nan LCBO’s 97-year history began.

The 2 sides returned to nan array that time and negotiated into nan night. The adjacent day, Thursday, they returned and talks continued again — they yet began to find communal crushed and a woody was yet agreed.

Colleen MacLeod, OPSEU’s LCBO lead, told Global News talks went “late into nan night” connected Thursday and wrapped astir 4 a.m. connected Friday, pinch nan Crown agency and nan national optimistic everything was fresh to formally beryllium announced.

“We said, ‘Look, we’re there, we’re almost there, we’ll look astatine nan connection and solidify everything successful nan morning, besides we person to do this return-to-work protocol,'” MacLeod said.

The return-to-work protocol — which OPSEU president JP Hornick described arsenic “standard believe successful negotiations — is an statement for really striking workers will travel disconnected nan picket statement and backmost into stores.

Hornick said it included logistical agreements for illustration which workers would return to their shifts first and really they would get entree to computers aliases keys. The protocol besides featured nan petition of backpay for workers who had been connected onslaught for much than 2 weeks.

The national said that petition was a normal portion of negotiations and nan connection itself could beryllium countered by nan LCBO.

“Next morning, we get up, we motion that corporate agreement, we motion nan tentative statement and we springiness nan employer our return to activity protocol for negotiations,” MacLeod continued.

“At that point, we thought everything would conscionable activity — they would counter-propose, we would propose and we would get this done, quickly wrapped up, wrong possibly a half an hour. All of sudden, we heard they were making immoderate announcement astir an unfair labour believe and I was stunned.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford — whose authorities has arms-length power of nan LCBO arsenic a Crown corp — said things progressed very differently.

Speaking astatine an arena connected Monday, nan premier said he was successful Windsor-Essex erstwhile nan LCBO and nan OPSEU yet came to an agreement. Ford said he recovered a adjacent picket statement to show nan workers retired connected onslaught that “we sewage a deal.”

As nan premier was sharing nan news pinch LCBO workers, he said nan woody fell apart.

“All of a sudden, astonishment surprise, ne'er successful Canadian history that I’ve heard… they rescind nan woody and they travel backmost aft it’s signed,” Ford remembered, claiming he had spoken to 500 workers complete nan long of nan strike.

“And they’re saying, OK, now since we signed this deal… we want them (the workers) to get paid for 2 weeks. I say, ‘The group would suffer their minds.’ Imagine if that’s taking your taxation dollars for paying group that weren’t working. It’s perfectly crazy.”

The spat complete backpay and a return-to-work protocol put nan woody successful threat of collapse.

Hours aft some agreeing to a woody and extolling its virtues successful public, nan LCBO and OPSEU were sniping astatine each other. They accused 1 different of bargaining successful bad religion and fundamentally misunderstanding nan process.

MacLeod told Global News she felt nan LCBO had “freaked out” complete nan return-to-work connection by threatening to record an unfair labour practices complaint.

“I don’t cognize if it’s that they didn’t understand that this had to beryllium done because they’ve ne'er been connected onslaught earlier and why they reacted that way, I’m going to springiness nan use of nan uncertainty there,” she said.

Ultimately, nan national dropped its petition for backpay successful nan return-to-work protocol, which was signed by nan 2 sides.

“So, finally, they came to their sense, nan activity came to their senses, and we sewage nan woody signed, group are backmost astatine activity and everyone’s going to person a awesome summer,” Ford said.

MacLeod said nan national was ever consenting to reconsider its stance connected backpay for striking workers but felt they had to ask. She said nan consequence it triggered came arsenic a shock.

“That’s what we were looking for is: hey, are they willing successful doing nan correct point and possibly compensating for a fewer days aliases immoderate nan lawsuit whitethorn be… each they would person had to do is say, ‘No’ and counter-propose and everything would person been fine,” she said.

LCBO unit returned to activity connected Monday and stores are group to reopen crossed Ontario connected Tuesday.