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Union ramps up pressure in LCBO strike with no talks planned to get deal

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MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – The union representing Ontario liquor store workers has ramped up pressure in a five-day-old strike, with no talks planned to hammer out a deal.

Thousands of workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario walked off the job Friday. The LCBO, in turn, shuttered its stores across the province for two weeks.

At an LCBO distribution centre in Mississauga, Ont., several dozen workers on the picket line delayed delivery trucks entering the warehouse on Tuesday.

“We are slowing the flow of vehicles in and out of the LCBO facility on this property so that their ability to get orders out is reduced,” said Patricia Roode, a customs clerk in the LCBO’s transportation division.

Similar actions by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union are playing out at other distribution centres, Roode said.

The LCBO has brought in scab workers in an attempt to fulfil warehouse orders, she said.

The Crown corporation had intended to open five distribution centres this week to help get booze into restaurants, bars, hotels, convention centres and other licensees across the province.

The LCBO now says that will not happen due to picketing at the locations and it will instead offer online ordering for smaller orders.

“In light of OPSEU threats to picket these locations, we have made the decision to offer an alternative online experience for smaller orders,” the LCBO wrote in a statement.

The union believes Premier Doug Ford’s plan to open up the alcohol sales market poses an existential threat to the LCBO that will lead to major job losses.

It does not want ready-to-drink cocktails sold outside LCBO stores, wants the province to guarantee its jobs, as well as wage increases, and wants more permanent rather than part-time positions.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy has said the government is “more committed than ever” to its alcohol expansion plans in order to give Ontarians more choice and convenience.

The LCBO has said its last contract offer included wage increases and converting several hundred part-time jobs to full-time positions.

“The LCBO did not want a strike, and we apologize for the inconvenience to our wholesale customers,” the Crown corporation said.

The union has said the sticking point is Ford’s policy to open up alcohol sales, which OPSEU wants changed.

The first step of the expansion plan is set to start in less than a month, when grocery stores that already sell beer and wine will be able to sell ready-to-drink cocktails. Convenience stores can start selling beer, wine, cider and ready-to-drink cocktails on Sept. 5.

Nearly 3,000 convenience stores have already signed up to sell alcohol.

“We want it to be slowed down or done in a way that maintains the benefit to the people of Ontario rather than throwing money out the window,” Roode, the striking LCBO worker, said.

The province said it does not want to privatize the LCBO, rather the expansion is about giving people more choice and more convenience to buy alcohol. Ford has said it is time “to treat people like adults.”

The LCBO is a cash cow for the province, netting some $2.5 billion in 2022-23, or about $159 per person.

“LCBO revenue and the dividends paid to the government have continued to grow, even as successive governments have expanded alcohol sales to new retail stores and allowed bars and restaurants to sell alcohol with takeout and delivery,” Bethlenfalvy said in a letter to the LCBO on Tuesday.

“The evidence is clear: you can provide more choice while still generating revenue to invest in front-line government services.”

Bethlenfalvy was writing to Carmine Nigro, the chairman of the board of the LCBO, directing the Crown corporation to showcase and promote Ontario beer, wine, spirits and ciders as part of the expansion.

The union’s president said the government is not open to discussing changes to its alcohol expansion plans.

“We want to be part of the expansion and we want the premier and the LCBO to come back to the table and talk about how we can protect good jobs in all of our communities and protect this resource that funds everything that we hold dear in Ontario,” said OPSEU’s J.P. Hornick.

On Monday, Premier Doug Ford released a video with an interactive map designed to show people where they can buy booze outside the LCBO.

Meanwhile, the LCBO’s online system to sell alcohol during the strike has hit a snag.

“There are challenges with the online ordering system, but the LCBO is aware and are working to correct it,” said Kris Barnier, a vice-president at Restaurants Canada.

“The top products have been challenging to get.”

Otherwise, restaurants and bars in Ontario are holding up so far amid the strike, although Barnier admits it is tense times right now.

“We’ll see how it goes if the strike goes on much longer,” he said.

The LCBO said it is aware of the issue and is making “every effort” so customers can find what they want online.

“We have planned for an increase in inventory and ask for customers’ patience as we continue to stock up on favourite items,” it said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2024.

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Canada’s Denis Shapovalov wins Belgrade Open for his second ATP Tour title

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BELGRADE, Serbia – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is back in the winner’s circle.

The 25-year-old Shapovalov beat Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4 in the Belgrade Open final on Saturday.

It’s Shapovalov’s second ATP Tour title after winning the Stockholm Open in 2019. He is the first Canadian to win an ATP Tour-level title this season.

His last appearance in a tournament final was in Vienna in 2022.

Shapovalov missed the second half of last season due to injury and spent most of this year regaining his best level of play.

He came through qualifying in Belgrade and dropped just one set on his way to winning the trophy.

Shapovalov’s best results this season were at ATP 500 events in Washington and Basel, where he reached the quarterfinals.

Medjedovic was playing in his first-ever ATP Tour final.

The 21-year-old, who won the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF title last year, ends 2024 holding a 9-8 tour-level record on the season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Talks to resume in B.C. port dispute in bid to end multi-day lockout

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VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.

The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.

The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.

The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.

The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.

MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.

In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.

“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.

“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”

In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.

“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.

The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.

“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”

The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.

The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.

A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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The Royal Canadian Legion turns to Amazon for annual poppy campaign boost

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The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.

Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.

Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.

Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.

“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.

“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”

Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.

“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.

Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.

“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”

But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.

Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.

“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.

Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.

The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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