Stefanson takes shots at union, NDP in liquor workers' strike

Business

Stefanson takes shots at union, NDP in liquor workers’ strike

Published

1 month ago

August 12, 2023

Harry Miller

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.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESPremier Heather 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 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.

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.

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

— With files from Danielle Da Silva and Katie May

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Business

India-Canada row: Visa suspension will not affect OCI services, says official – Hindustan Times

Published

2 hours ago

September 25, 2023

Harry Miller

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Wonderland roller coaster stuck upside down for 25 minutes – SooToday

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3 hours ago

September 25, 2023

Harry Miller

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Will Canadian Banks Cut Dividends? The Pending Recession + Good Reads From The PF Community

Published

12 hours ago

September 24, 2023

Harry Miller

Hi everyone, I just realized that it’s been a while since I put together a good read from the personal finance community post, probably because it takes me a while to put together such articles. Anyway, it’s time to resurrect the good reads articles again.

People have been talking about the pending recession for over a year now. Some people believe that high inflation and high interest rates will trigger the global economy to slow down. Somehow, both the US and Canadian economy remain resilient so far in 2023.

As a reminder, some factors that can trigger a recession include:

high inflation
increasing interest rates
reduced consumer confidence
higher unemployment rate
reduced spending and investment activities

The biggest question is if the economy can continue to grow at a modest rate, instead of shrinking.

Despite the US and Canadian economies remaining quite resilient, we’re seeing some signs that a recession may be coming…

Companies are trimming forces – my company included
Overall economic outlook softness
A slowdown in consumer spending… many retailers have reported this in their earnings
A higher percentage of household income is going toward paying off debt

For people that are still in the accumulation phase, a recession may not necessarily be a bad thing – it will create buying opportunities; for people that are retired or close to retirement, a recession can be more problematic. This is why increasing your cash reserve, reducing equities exposure, and increasing bond exposure are recommended if you are retired or close to retirement.

Many dividend investors are curious whether or not Canadian banks will cut dividends. The Canadian banks have not been performing all that well the past year due to concerns over the Canadian real estate market and mortgages.

In preparation for a potential economic slowdown, Canadian banks have been boosting provisions for bad loans. This is exactly what the Canadian banks did during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If a recession does happen and people default on their mortgages, will the Canadian banks cut dividends?

Difficult to say.

My view? Canadian Big Five banks didn’t cut dividends during the financial crisis, they also didn’t cut dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chances are, they will hold off on any dividend increases until the dust settles.

I believe the Canadian banks won’t cut dividends. Instead, I believe they’ll simply hold the payout steady.

But my prediction can only be 50% correct at best. I can be completely wrong!

So, what can dividend investors do? First, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Make sure you are not over-exposed to Canadian banks. Diversification is important.

Since the Canadian economy is heavily tied to the financial and oil & gas sectors, it’s important to invest in other sectors like consumer staples, high tech, and consumer discretionary. Investing outside of Canada, therefore, is extremely important.

Good reads from the PF community

Here are some fantastic personal finance/investing related articles that I came across recently.

Mark at My Own Advisor wondered, Should you have 100% of your portfolio in stocks? – “DIY investors, readers and passionate investors know from my site that there is no universal answer for every investor, so it’s important to think through both the upsides and downsides when it comes to your investing plan… While a 100% equity investment portfolio could make sense for younger investors, decades away from retirement, keeping 100% of your portfolio in stocks as you enter retirement or remain in retirement could introduce unnecessary risk.”

Joseph Carlson discussed things that you need to do before you sell a stock

GYM recently turned 40 and shared 40 Financial Lessons She has learned in 40 years – “Time IN the market is better than timing the markets. Stay invested, stick to your plan. This Visual Capitalist chart illustrates the pitfalls of timing the market. If your money wasn’t invested in the 10 best days of the market, you could lose more than half of your overall return on investment. From 2003 to 2022, $10,000 invested in the S&P500 would yield almost $65,000 but if you missed the 10 best days (which were mostly in 2008 and 2009), you would miss out on more than half of your investment returns than if you kept your money invested.” Congrats GYM on turning 40, you certainly shared similar 40 lessons that I’ve learned.

Mike at The Dividend Guy Blog came up with an interesting Retirement Withdrawal Strategy to avoid panic and enjoy life – “It’s no secret that utilities, REITs, and communications companies, especially telcos, are generous dividend providers. Utilities and telcos are usually mature businesses with stable streams of income, making wealth distribution logical. REITs are obligated to distribute most of their income. Add a few Canadian banks in the mix, you’d already have enough sectors to invest easily 60% of your portfolio, while complying with the “don’t exceed 20% in one sector” rule.“

I really like the 17 Questions That Changed My Life from Tim Ferris – “The question I found most helpful was, “If I could only work two hours per week on my business, what would I do?” Honestly speaking, it was more like, “Yes, I know it’s impossible, but if I had a gun to my head or contracted some horrible disease, and I had to limit work to two hours per week, what would I do to keep things afloat?”

I thoroughly enjoyed The paradox of the “perfect life” from Rad Reads – “Consider this thought experiment. You and I both aspire to lead rich and fulfilling lives. Good lives. Some might even say perfect lives. Let’s imagine that you worked assiduously to get that perfect life. You have the perfect job. Impactful, high-paying and the ability to be hybrid. You had the perfect home. Massive square footage, impeccably furnished and immaculately clean. You had the perfect spouse. Smart, sexy and a wonderful co-parent. You had the perfect body. Low BMI, 6-pack abs and a full head of hair. Things are perfect. Or are they? Just like the guy with $70 million who’s scared that he’ll have to fend off gold diggers – have you created a new set of worries?“

With GIC rate at 5% or higher, is it a good idea to “invest” in GICs? Ben Felix explained why cash is a terrible long-term investment

Katie at Money With Katie explained How to avoid lifestyle creep, don’t live beyond your assets – “It wasn’t until I found myself in a peculiar economic position that a more helpful version of this rule emerged for me: Don’t live beyond your assets.Once I found myself graduating from a median income to a higher one, I straddled the line between two worlds: Do I maintain my exact same lifestyle and invest everything extra, or do I recognize that I can afford a little lifestyle creep?The hard part? There’s no rule of thumb for how to handle such a situation. I felt silly skimping on brand name orange juice, but I was also terrified of backsliding into the old, spend-y habits that used to drain my checking account every month.Just because I was making more money didn’t mean I was wealthy, and I struggled to find balance.”

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