Stefanson takes shots at union, NDP in liquor workers’ strike By: Malak Abas Posted: 12:20 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 11, 2023 Last Modified: 6:50 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 11, 2023 Updates

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Premier Heather Stefanson climbed into the ring and threw a few punches at the union representing striking liquor workers Friday, just hours before all retail outlets in the province — save for two in Winnipeg — locked the doors for the weekend.

It marked the first time the premier publicly waded into the increasingly bitter battle between Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries and about 1,400 members of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union over a new collective agreement.

Stefanson accused the union of “politicizing” the dispute and the NDP of standing in the way of progress as the strike dragged into its fourth day.

“I don’t think that they are telling their members what is really on the table for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries,” the premier said at an unrelated news conference.

“There is a 15 to 25 per cent increase in their wages over four years, it’s on the table. It’s on the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries website. Go there.

“I don’t think we should be politicizing this. Manitobans want to have access to (products from Liquor Marts).”

Her comments echo those made by MLL president Gerry Sul, who earlier in the week accused MGEU of “shielding (members) from all the details.”

The union responded to Sul’s remarks, explaining that its members have been encouraged to seek out MLL’s information, and argued the 24.55 per cent wage increase ladder described on MLL’s website would apply only to seasonal workers and new hires, who make up less than 20 per cent of the workforce and, then, only if those people remained employees for four years.

Under the current proposal, the union said, most permanent long-term members would get a four-year total wage increase of eight or nine per cent.

“I’ve spent many, many hours on the picket lines over this last little while, and I can tell you our members are well aware what the offer is, and they’re really fighting for fairness,” MGEU president Kyle Ross said Friday.

“I don’t know how you would want to make political gains off of a strike and off of these families who have all this stress and all these issues going on.”

Stefanson also criticized the NDP’s decision to block proposed legislation earlier this year that would have expanded private liquor sales in the province.

“They stood in the way of that. We think that’s wrong,” she said. “And we’ll continue to stand up for the workers, we’ll continue to stand up for Manitobans when it comes to more access to to liquor and make it more convenient for them.”

NDP critic for Liquor and Lotteries Lisa Naylor said Stefanson’s Progressive Conservative government has a “clear agenda” to follow Alberta and Saskatchewan in privatizing Manitoba’s liquor industry.

“Maybe this is some way they’re trying to turn around, to get public sentiment on their side around privatization, although we certainly didn’t hear much support for that when the bills were in process (in the legislature),” Naylor said.

Although the province doesn’t appear poised to pursue a full privatization model, the strike has quickly become a campaign issue that could have negative impact on both the Tories and the NDP, said Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor in political studies at the University of Manitoba.

Manitobans will elect a new provincial government Oct. 3.

“If you’re a shopper in Fort Richmond and you want to buy your bottle of Wiser’s rye or some vodka, and yet again, you can’t buy what you’re looking to shop for, you might think, ‘Well, who’s responsible for this long strike?’” he said.

“And you say, the government, in part, is responsible because they haven’t interfered with it, but at the same time, one might say, the unions are supported by the NDP. It’s a cross-cutting issue, and the PCs might want to let this ride for a while.”

The longer the strike goes on, the more effect it will have when voters go to the polls, Adams said.

“I would say the agenda right now is mostly in the union’s favour, which is surprising to me, because with stores being closed, there are a lot of people who might not care about the issues,” he said.

“Now, the longer this takes to get resolved, the more the union might have less of a control over the dialogue.”

Meanwhile, some striking employees objected to comments posted publicly on a provincial government minister’s political campaign Facebook page earlier this week.

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Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister James Teitsma blamed MGEU for what he described as a “needless strike” and responded to several comments posted by individuals on one of Teitsma’s unrelated posts.

One commenter, Tom Boomer, who said his wife is one of the employees currently on strike, asked whether the government would negotiate with MLL employees.

In response, Teitsma wrote: “(MLL) and MGEU should be negotiating right now. No one wants a strike except Kyle Ross and the NDP. This strike isn’t about negotiating for MGEU — it’s about a political objective.”

In a subsequent comment, the minister wrote, “Your wife is being used by MGEU to score political points.”

The employee, Jenn Boomer, told the Free Press she felt the minister’s comments lacked a sense of leadership and showed no empathy for the families of liquor workers.

“He made us out to be puppets,” she said.

Ross expressed frustration with Teitsma’s comments.

“I think it’s insulting to talk down to our members like this,” he said.

Teitsma’s office didn’t immediately respond Friday afternoon.

— With files from Danielle Da Silva and Katie May

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.