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.”
Stores closed
While five Winnipeg Liquor Marts and two outside the city have been open since the provincewide strike began Tuesday, even fewer will be open this weekend.
While five Winnipeg Liquor Marts and two outside the city have been open since the provincewide strike began Tuesday, even fewer will be open this weekend.
Just two Winnipeg Liquor Marts — the Crestview location at 3393 Portage Avenue and the St. Vital Square Liquor Mart at 827 Dakota Street — will be open from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, according to a MLL spokesperson. All rural Liquor Marts will be closed Saturday, and all Liquor Marts in Manitoba will be closed Sunday.
Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries is also converting two of its locations, the Eastwinds Liquor Mart at 1530 Regent Avenue and the Brandon Victoria Liquor Mart at 1015 Victoria Avenue to commercial-only stores. Starting Friday at Eastwinds and Aug. 15 in Brandon, these locations will not be open to the public and shoppers will have to provide licensee identification.
According to the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries website (which currently lists the Crestview and St. Vital Square locations as closed on Saturday) the Crestview, Garden City Square, Grant Park, Hargrave at Ellice and St. Vital Square locations in Winnipeg will be open 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays next week, as will the Brandon South location. The Thompson Liquor Mart will operate at reduced hours from Tuesday to Friday.
The Crestview, Garden City Square, Grant Park, Hargrave at Ellice and St. Vital Square locations in Winnipeg are open Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., along with the Brandon Victoria Avenue location and the Thompson Liquor Mart.
MLL workers have been without a contract since March 2022 and want raises in line with those obtained by Premier Heather Stefanson and her cabinet — 3.3 per cent in 2023 and 3.6 per cent in both 2024 and 2025.
MLL is offering two per cent a year over four years, and raising the hourly starting wage $2.38 above the province’s minimum wage.
The current starting hourly wage for MLL workers is $14.91, increasing to $15.30 in October in line with the raise in minimum wage. The promised bump for entry-level workers would increase the starting wage to $17.68 hourly this year and by March 2025, the starting wage would be $18.57, when a one per cent recruitment and retention adjustment is applied that year.
The last liquor-related labour dispute in the province was in October 1978, when the Manitoba Government Employees’ Association went on strike for seven weeks.
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.
The Eastwinds Liquor Mart will only be open for commercial customers.
“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.
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.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
