Manitoba Crown corporation hires replacement workers to keep booze flowing
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/08/2023 (1153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries has hired a private delivery company to do the work of striking employees as tension between the publicly owned corporation and the union boiled over and officials faced pressure to keep the shelves stocked ahead of the long weekend.
Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union president Kyle Ross said he and other members have witnessed staff from transport firm Covert Logistics cross the picket line, enter the MLL distribution centre warehouse on King Edward Street and “pick loads” — selecting products from the warehouse and building loads for delivery — beginning last week.
“It’s really disappointing when we’re fighting for fairness, and then you have local companies really undercutting our position and doing our struck work,” Ross said Tuesday.
“It’s a slap in the face to our workers. It’s a slap in the face to Manitobans, really. We’re fighting for fairness and fairness is for everyone.”
A spokesperson for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries confirmed replacement staff had been hired, but refused to name the company.
“(MLL) has engaged some contract workers to keep liquor flowing through the distribution centre and out to stores for public and commercial customer purchases,” they said in an email. “This action was not undertaken lightly, and we are aware that contract workers cannot replace our own employees and the level of excellence they deliver every day.”
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Union president Kyle Ross said he and other members have witnessed staff from transport firm Covert Logistics cross the picket line, enter the MLL distribution centre warehouse on King Edward Street and “pick loads”.
Covert Logistics’ website says the company has more than 60 vehicles and is co-owned by Rob and Caralyn Rabichuk.
“We believe transportation should happen seamlessly, which is why we pride ourselves in executing ‘behind the scenes transport,’” a page on the site reads.
The Free Press contacted Covert Logistics and was re-directed to Rob Rabichuk by a staff member. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Workers at the King Edward Street distribution centre remained on strike Tuesday. Ross said picketers are “cordial” as they delay the trucks for several minutes before they enter the compound.
It’s the latest twist in the rotating strike/lockout that has heated up this summer as the workers fight for a new collective agreement.
Staff at six Liquor Marts in Winnipeg (Crestview, Eastwinds, Garden City, Grant Park, Hargrave and Ellice, and St. Vital Square) and the Brandon South Liquor Mart were locked out by the Crown corporation Tuesday morning.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kyle Ross said picketers are “cordial” as they delay the trucks for several minutes before they enter the compound.
The MLL spokesperson said those stores were closed in part to ensure Liquor Marts were restocked in time for the long weekend. They were scheduled to reopen Wednesday.
For its part, the union announced workers wouldn’t conduct a range of duties when on the job, including reviewing pallet sheets, keeping receipts of inventory from suppliers or distributors and signing off on receivables.
The first strike action taken by MGEU was held at the distribution centre July 19. Some 1,400 union liquor workers have not had a contract since March 2022 and want wage raises in line with Manitoba MLAs and Premier Heather Stefanson — 3.3 per cent in 2023 and 3.6 per cent in 2024 and 2025.
The employer is offering 2.0 per cent per year over four years. The MLL spokesperson said Tuesday that Liquor and Lotteries has promised to raise starting wages $2.38 an hour above minimum wage should the current agreement be ratified.
The union has accused the provincial government of tying the Crown corporation’s bargaining hands through its “restrictive” wage mandate.
Tension has ramped up in the weeks since strike action began. Ross said he’s heard concerns managerial staff, who have been called in to perform striking workers’ duties, have been “belligerent” to workers.
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“These actions, they’re not functioning at the level our members work. Our members are well-trained and do the job very well,” he said. “This is just a fill-in type thing where I don’t think it’s sustainable.”
MLL said MGEU has not reported any instances of inappropriate behaviour to the company.
The hiring of replacement workers is “hardball tactics” that speak to the corporation’s unwillingness to beef up its current contract offer, suggested University of Manitoba labour studies professor David Camfield.
“It’s not that common these days to see scab workers used because it really does inflame strikes and lockouts. But I think it suggests that the (Crown corporation) is really trying to win in this situation. They really don’t want to improve their offer to the level that the union would see as acceptable for putting a deal before the members.”
Camfield said it’s difficult to say whether the government’s bargaining mandate played a role in the corporation’s decision to lock out workers and hire replacements.
“Clearly the management’s been put in a box, in a sense, by the provincial government’s mandate, and that needs to be taken into account when we’re looking at the way it’s conducting itself during the strike.”
MGEU said contract talks continue with the conciliator this week.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
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.
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