Manitoba Liquor Mart workers fully on strike starting Tuesday, union says

All unionized Manitoba Liquor Mart workers will be on strike as of Tuesday morning, a move their union says was prompted by their employer's intention to close more of its stores on the same day.

"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 Manitoba Government and General Employees Union (MGEU) President Kyle Ross in an emailed statement late Monday.

"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," Ross said.

Earlier Monday, Crown corporation Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MBLL) said it was shutting 10 further stores in the province on Tuesday in the midst of the ongoing labour dispute which has disrupted inventory.

• Booming sales, barren shelves: Manitoba liquor strike spills into long weekend

• Staff of 7 Liquor Marts across Manitoba to be locked out indefinitely starting Saturday: union

A selective strike began on July 19, which has seen MGEU employees refuse to work overtime and liquor store workers not receiving shipments. Operations at the MBLL distribution centre have also been impacted.

As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, 34 stores of the corporation's 63 across Manitoba were due to be shut from the announced closures.

"MBLL must reduce the number of Liquor Marts open for business to ensure we can effectively manage allocating limited inventory to the remaining open locations," the corporation said.

Ross said the union bargaining committee met Monday to talk over how to keep pressure on for greater wage increases than what the company has offered.

"The committee determined that, with escalating lockouts and intimidation tactics, MGEU liquor workers members have no other option but to move to a province-wide strike, effective Tuesday [morning]," Ross said.

According to the union's last collective agreement, which expired in March 2022, full-time MBLL clerks make about $20 to $24 per hour, while part-time clerks receive $15 to $17 an hour.

Ross' statement implies the Manitoba government is interfering with the collective bargaining process and is restricting MBLL from offering more than two per cent increases for front-line workers.

"MBLL is a very profitable corporation. It can afford fair and reasonable wage increases for its workers," Ross said. "After working through the pandemic and the violent thefts epidemic, liquor workers have earned fair wage increases."

MBLL has not yet responded to the MGEU's notice to fully strike.

MBLL is reminding customers to check its website for open locations and hours of operation.