The Fort Richmond Liquor Mart at 2851 Pembina Highway (FILE)
WINNIPEG — Manitoba Liquor Mart employees will begin a province-wide strike on Tuesday at 7 a.m.
The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union says the decision comes as Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries announced Monday that employees at 10 additional Liquor Mart locations would be locked out — bringing the total to more than 40 stores.
Both parties are in the midst of contract negotiations and MBLL employees are seeking a 3.3 percent wage increase.
“It has become very clear that the employer and the government have no intention of negotiating a fair and reasonable settlement at the bargaining table,” said MGEU president Kyle Ross.
“Instead they seem focused on trying to intimidate our members with heavy-handed tactics like hiring replacement workers and locking out members who wanted to keep stores open to serve Manitobans through the long weekend.”
MBLL says the lockouts are necessary to effectively manage allocating limited inventory to the remaining open locations.
“MBLL is a very profitable corporation. It can afford fair and reasonable wage increases for its workers,” Ross added. “After working through the pandemic and the violent thefts epidemic, liquor workers have earned fair wage increases — like those that Premier Stefanson and her cabinet ministers are taking for themselves.”
MGEU has scheduled a media availability for Tuesday morning.
