Media Advisory - Momentum building: LCBO workers picket against privatization

TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2016 /CNW/ - Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) will host two information pickets Friday as part of their ongoing campaign against the expansion of alcohol sales to grocery stores:

Date:	Friday, September 16, 2016
Time:	10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Place:	Outside LCBO Store #164  65 Wicksteed Avenue, Eglinton and Laird, Toronto Organized by OPSEU Locals 5108, 5110, and 5111

Date:	Friday, September 16, 2016
Time:	2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Place:	Outside LCBO Store #1  2625D Weston Road, Highway 401 and Weston Rd, Toronto Organized by OPSEU Locals 288 and 5107

The campaign against alcohol expansion to grocery stores is "crucial now more than ever," according to Nick Papadimitriou, president of OPSEU Local 5108. The Ontario government will expand wine sales into 70 grocery stores by October 28. Some 60 stores across the province are already selling beer and cider.

"This is about public education," said Colleen Macleod, president of OPSEU Local 5107. "We've met many folks who don't realize that what is happening is privatization. It is, and it's detrimental to communities." When British Columbia expanded sales of alcohol to private retailers, the province saw a rise in alcohol-related costs – emergency services, healthcare, as well as community services and law enforcement.

Friday will be the fourth and fifth information pickets hosted by OPSEU members at the LCBO. So far, the reception by the public has been warm.

"I think Ontarians are just tired of Premier Wynne's agenda," said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. "They're using alcohol liberalization to distract folks from the other damage their doing to the province. But once people get past the touted 'convenience' of it, I know support will land on the side of keeping alcohol sales public."

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)

Craig Hadley, Chair, Education and Communication Committee, LBED, OPSEU, 416-305-0066