2021 LBED Bargaining Bulletin, Issue 6
Download a printable PDF of this bulletin
OPSEU/SEFPO Leaders’ Message
Could we be any prouder of your bargaining team?
They faced the pandemic. They faced your employer’s long list of significant take-aways.
And they faced the severe restrictions placed on them by the Ford government’s wage-restraint Bill 124 and changes to the Employment Standards Act.
But despite all those challenges, they got the employer into early mediation and worked out a tentative agreement during a marathon bargaining session over the weekend.
Your bargaining team squeezed every possible penny out of what’s allowed under Bill 124.
And there are no losses to you. Not a single one. No losses on job security. No losses on privatization. No losses on scheduling.
So on behalf of the entire Executive Board, thank you to the team for all your hard work.
In solidarity,
OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas
OPSEU/SEFPO First Vice-President/Treasurer Eduardo (Eddy) Almeida
Tentative agreement next steps
Your bargaining team has achieved a tentative agreement. Here’s what happens next:
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Telephone townhalls
Details of the tentative agreement will be shared during two telephone townhalls on Thursday, May 20. One is at 10 a.m, the other is at 7:30 p.m. All LBED members are encouraged to attend at least one.
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Mobilizer meetings:
Between May 21 and the ratification vote, regional mobilizers will be hosting a series of Zoom meetings where you’ll have a chance to ask even more questions about the tentative agreement.
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Virtual Ratification vote:
The virtual ratification vote will take place June 8-10. In order to receive your ballot, please ensure OPSEU/SEFPO has your personal email address. Checking and updating your contact information is easy. There are four ways to do it:
- Call 1-800-268-7376 or 416-443-8888 and say you’re an LBED member looking to update your contact info
- Send your name, personal email address, and personal cell to lbedbargaining@opseu.org
- Update your contact info through the OPSEU/SEFPO member portal
- Fill out this short online form.
With your strong support, a victory for all
We weren’t sure what was going to happen when we started “early mediation” on Thursday, May 6.
The first eight days of bargaining had been incredibly tough. The employer had a long list of take-ways, and they seemed to be holding firm on all of them. They wanted our jobs to be less secure. They wanted to open the door to more privatization and more contracting-out. And they wanted to erase all the gains we’ve made on healthy work-life balance.
We weren’t going to let that happen.
And thanks to all of your solidarity and support, the employer knew you weren’t going to let that happen, either.
And so over a bargaining session that stretched from Thursday morning to early Sunday morning, we were able to hammer out a deal that preserves all of the protections we’ve fought so hard for over the years.
Not only that, this deal secures the biggest gains we could possibly get under Bill 124 and sets the stage for even bigger gains once we’re free of its unconstitutional constraints.
We’re looking forward to talking to you more about the deal – and answering all of your questions – during the telephone town halls on Thursday, May 20, at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Until then, thank you again for all of your solidarity and support. We couldn’t have achieved this tentative agreement without you.
And thanks also to our mediator, Gerry Lee. With a fair and even hand, he helped us work with the employer to find an agreement that we think makes the LCBO a better workplace for us and a better Crown corporation for the people of Ontario.
Thanks and in solidarity,
Bargaining Team Chair: Colleen MacLeod, Local 5107
Bargaining Team Vice-Chair: Craig Hadley, Local 5109
Logistics Position: – Jeremy Trainor, Local 378
Member at Large: Rachel Brunet, Local 4100
Member at Large: Adam Ly, Local 499
LBED bargaining team members (top left to bottom right) Colleen MacLeod, Craig Hadley, Rachel Brunet, Jeremy Trainor, and Adam Ly.
Important: To vote, OPSEU/SEFPO needs your email
To vote on the tentative agreement, OPSEU/SEFPO will be emailing you a virtual ballot.
Please ensure OPSEU/SEFPO has your personal email address and personal phone number. Checking and updating your contact information is easy. There are four ways to do it:
- Call 1-800-268-7376 or 416-443-8888 and say you’re an LBED member looking to update your contact info
- Send your name, personal email address, and personal cell to lbedbargaining@opseu.org
- Update your contact info through the OPSEU/SEFPO member portal
- Fill out this short online form.
Your regional mobilizers
Your regional mobilizers for 2021 were elected by LBED divisional and local leaders during a virtual meeting on Oct. 24, 2020. The mobilizers are:
- Region 1: Shelly Robitaille, Greg Wilson
- Region 2: Shawn Swayze, Greg Scott
- Region 3: Tammy Rogers, Damian Campbell
- Region 4: Dianne Clarabut, Sean Spencer
- Region 5: Kim Nasello, Janice Ariza, Taidgh McGuinness
- Region 6: Leslie Gagnon, Judy Jones
- Region 7: Rob Mithrush, Anne Makela
Stay up-to-date!
You can stay up-to-date on the latest by frequently checking our website – http://sefpo.org/lbed — and by following our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/OpseuLiquorBoardEmployees
Your 2021 Bargaining Bulletin is authorized for distribution by:
Colleen MacLeod, Chair, Liquor Board Employees Division
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President, OPSEU/SEFPO