Discussions

First you raised all the booze prices this year and now you want more money. You say you haven’t had a new contract in a year. Most of us have never had a contract period. I live off OAS and CPP a whopping 1250 per month. What do you guys live off of? I think with your government job your probably not struggling to make ends meet like I am and many others. All you’re doing is making everybody angry. Just go back to work already and consider yourself one of the lucky ones who gets a regular paycheque that amounts to something.

The employees don’t set the prices, the management does. Employees are paid cents above minimum wage and are asking for an increase to help pay their rent, feed their families, maybe even saving for retirement so they have enough to live on. The corporation they work for posted hundreds of millions in profits last year. Give your head a shake, everyone’s struggling right now. We can’t fight over crumbs while someone else is making off with the whole cake.

Manitoba minimum wage $14.15 per hr.  
 
M L and L cashier wage $17.54 per hr.  
 
M L and L ass.store manager wage $26.22 per hr.  
 
M L and L store manager wage $29.72 per hr.  
 
I'm sure there may be other positions paying less than I have posted, but we are not talking wages of a few cents above minimum wage.  
 
If I'm wrong about this, please show a link to show otherwise.

If those are the wages, then it’s more than Basic workers and supervisors that I know in 3 separate departments in PMH…… that is insanity…

That cashier wage of $17.54 is really not enough to live on these days. I worked a temp job for $17/hr and it wouldn't have been worth going to work for if I wasn't working just to supplement my pension at the time. If I applied at MLL and was told I would make a bit less than 18 I would walk out.  
 
They are a unionized job, working for a company/department that rakes in huge profits. They should be getting more than $18. I can see why they are striking. Unfortunately they will never make back what they are losing during the strike.  
 
Making everyone angry? People actually get angry if buying booze isn't as easy as usual? "Everyone" is not angry. The people on strike most certainly are not the ones responsible for raising prices, you must know that.

$17.54 may not be the best wage in the world but for a cashier it’s pretty good. You just also realize that there are good benefits and most likely a retirement plan setup for all the workers. That’s worth a couple dollars and hour. Do they get paid sick days? I don’t drink so their strike affects me absolutely none. But Manitoba liquor is worth way more than Saskatchewan and Alberta for the same product and no better service.

I know privatizing Liquor mart makes sense, however, we do need to think the extra revenue generated by Liquor Mart for the province and where would that come from if it does become privatized. There will be less dollars going around for roads and things..  
 
What are people thoughts on it...

Good benefits? Most of the employees at the LM are part time. I know a couple of them, and they said to get any sort of health benefits you have to work 4000 hours. Now if you factor in that they only get about 20 hours a week, you will realize they aren't going to get there anytime soon. I should also mention they don't have a guaranteed minimum amount of hours per week. So if you go with 20 hours a week and they get that every week, they might be able to get health benefits about 4 years after getting the job. So now we factor in medication, rent, food, utilities, and gas, that 17$ an hour isn't very much. Even if they have another part time job, they still lose extra money for taxes, and it doesn't help them when they really need it.  
 
I remember a time when working at the LM was a coveted job. It was great pay, unionized, and interesting to boot. Nowadays, people look down on them as simple cashiers making it hard for them to get in the store and purchase things.

Why are you comparing CPP & OAS to someone's wage they work for? Yours is a hand out. I'm not retiring for about 15 to 20 years but I'm not banking on those to float me, and neither should those workers.

When I was employed anyone who went on strike or walked off the job didn’t have a job to return to.  
Why is it any different for these employees? Close the liquor stores and put them out of work without benefits.  
Employers cannot and must not be held to ransom by employees. This is why our workforce is inefficient and unproductive.

Don’t remember anyone complaining when they left the LC OPEN for those during the ‘pandemic’, because alcohol is so necessary, while other businesses tanked. Let them be.

Which workplace did you see replace its unionized workforce when it went on strike? I'm curious.

I worked at several vehicle , motorcycle, agricultural dealerships. Let’s just say that union membership was not encouraged. And I believe that’s good policy.  
When I interviewed for a government job and was told that union membership was mandatory I said ‘no thanks, I don’t believe in it’ and walked out.  
Employee/Employer negotiations should be conducted on a one on one basis.

You didnt answer the question. I assume you lied in your previous post about union workers being replaced all the time when they went on strike, back in your day.  
 
Since you haven't worked in a unionized environment, I'm wondering where your low option comes from? Not experience anyway.  
 
No credibility  
 
Edited by Bob Sacamano, 2023-08-10 09:49:24

Yes there are Good and Bad with unions. BUT they have helped everyone both union and non union from Employers who treat employees like dirt. Union salary rise but it affects non union to as employers must follow to keep employees. It sounds like you would fit in the Victorian age in England

1: I wouldn’t mention an employers or business name as that would be a breach of confidentiality.  
2: I was employed in England so you wouldn’t recognize the workplace anyway.  
3:The union representation model is old fashioned and outdated in a modern work environment. It’s notable that recently unions have been struggling with membership rejecting deals agreed during negotiations with employers.  
 
I believed in keeping employment details private between myself and my employer. In one dealership that was a requirement. That policy never hurt me.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2023-08-10 10:34:45

comparison of wages and CPP and OAS is valid. The comment about CPP being a hand out is not. Wage earners pay into CPP just like most other pension plans. I have paid into CPP for 52 years and am now getting my money back.

Unions still have their time and place. I work in a workplace where some people are unionized and some are not. The unionized members have been able to negotiate better agreements with the employer than the non-unionized employees have.

commenting on the liquor strike, I would like to know the value of employer paid benefits. This benefit would be best understood in a $ per hour.  
 
Also who is eligible for these employer paid benefits. Short term full time, short term part time, long term full time, long term part time.  
 
I know of some part time employees who are part time, and or part time seasonal and that is all they want. Should they have the full benefit package??  
 
Has anyone checked to see what the vacancy rate at MLL is compared to what the general retail and customer service industry is? Might be interesting.

So, since you think CPP and OAS are handouts, i assume that you will be refusing to accept them when you retire and become of age to get them!!  
People work hard their whole life to get these. Not everyone had company pensions or were able to save enough in RRSPs to live off in retirement and old age.  
Re LC staff cashiers, at $17+/ hour, if you don't like it, go get a better paying job elsewhere. I am sure it is more than cashiers get elsewhere!

So Bob if your not retiring for 20 more years I hope you have at least a couple of million dollars saved up in your bank account because that’s what you’ll need then. And when that runs out and RRSPs run out with todays prices I guess then you can decide if you want to float on with CPP and OAS or starve

Is 14.91

Are you actually blaming cashiers for manipulating liquor prices and at the same time looking at the horrible financial situation you've built for yourself and telling anyone working for a better outcome than that to just sit back and be thankful that they have any kind of job?

The starting wage is currently $14.91. It’s available on the MLCC website.  
 
https://www.mbll.ca/bargaining

lol who should give their head a shake exactly? everyone is dealing with the increase of everything except wages. So unless you are making $100,00 plus we all need to be kind to those on fixed incomes and have no way of supplementing their incomes. These particular workers are paid well above minimum wage for this province and in this day and age they should be thrilled to make more than $15/hr for retail sales not many places do that do a heck of a lot more for the same or less.

You posts show nothing but an anti-union stance without having an understanding of the dispute being discussed or the collective bargaining practice in general.  
 
You make claims that unions are outdated and no longer needed yet there's factual data showing a direct correlation of wage stagnation and the drop in unionized workforce saturation.  
 
Organized labour helps drive wage rates and benefits for all, not the kindness of employers. You can be as "pie in the sky" as you want thinking that individuals negotiating wage rates with their employers is a better model than collective bargaining.  
 
Unions are one of the main forces in changes to health and safety laws to protect workers. Every major union lobbies for worker protections while many employers push for de-regulation on all aspects of safety. Anything to help drive profit.  
 
You make note that unions struggle with memberships rejecting deals that are agreed to during bargaining. What point are you making? This is what collective bargaining is about. During bargaining, agreements made are tentative only, pending ratification by the membership in a democratic process. When a negotiating team brings a package to the membership it can be presented several ways....  
1) here's a tentative agreement, your bargaining team thinks its fair and we support it  
2) here's a tentative agreement, your bargaining team thinks the employer has not been fair enough and we do not support it but want the membership to decide  
3) here's a final offer from the employer, there are items in the package that were not tentatively agreed to but the employer wants to force them through  
4) not really to same thing but the negotiating team can decide to not present the offer to the membership if they feel the company has not brought anything of value to the table.  
 
I don't usually chime in on here but it rubs me the wrong way when people make uninformed comments.

"$17.54 may not be the best wage in the world but for a cashier it’s pretty good."  
 
It may not be bad for an hourly wage, but it relies on the number of work hours/week. Heck, $30 a week is pretty darn good, but if you're only getting four hours a week, that $240 check every other week isn't going very far. the trend in the last few decades (especially for larger employers) seems to be staffing as many positions as viable with part-time workers. I'm not a MLLC insider, but the few folks I've known that have worked at Liquor Marts were all part-timers who were always keeping an eye out for a better job, or a second part-time gig.

All valid points that can and should be negotiated on an individual basis depending on each employee’s productivity and efficiency.

That is more than I make...  
 
Even by them striking they are making $500 a week  
. Still more than me..  
 
And I work a professional job... was even making minimum wage of $11 in January... and I had been there over a year  
 
Edited by Snowball, 2023-08-11 00:22:40

Reading through this whole thread makes my blood boil…. How are liquor people making more money than people working in hospitals? There is no reason why front line , hospital workers make less than people working in liquor Marts!!! Well, I am glad I got out of that field of work then, because wow! What is so very backwards….and I would be feeling a whole lot more frustrated if I still worked there, being mandated to work all….day…long…. Weeks non stop,.. just to know that the cashier at the local liquor store is making more than me! Crazy world we live in, I tell ya!