Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores are closed, hit by a strike by workers who belong to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

Denis Chénier is the union rep for the workers from Cobalt to Chapleau, up to Hearst and Moosonee.  He says they’ll be picketing their stores every day from 11:00am until 3:00pm.

At the heart of the dispute is Premier Doug Ford’s plan to make some liquor available in stores other than LCBOs.  Chénier says locally, it’s about job protection.  Seventy percent of the employees are casual, with no set schedule, so many hold down second and third jobs.  He says they want to be fulltime in protected jobs.

“And if they want to make it more convenient for the customers,” he states, “well, open up more liquor stores.”

Chénier denies the LCBO claim that the union left the bargaining table. He says a mediator called off talks over a stalemate.