Premier Doug Ford's announcement that beer and other alcoholic beverages will be able to be bought in convenience stores and other retail outlets wasn't welcome news for everyone.
John Nock, President of UFCW local 12R24, which represents unionized Beer Store employees, says the changes are unnecessary because everyone already has very easy access to beer and other alcoholic beverages, but he and the union knew this was coming.
"We expected the worst based on the Premier's language in his 2018 campaign and the actions of his first mandate. We haven't had time to absorb what the government's proposing. We're a little optimistic, but there's nothing that's long-lasting," Nock stated. "They're still going to be working out the details, as I understand. I'm hearing that the Beer Store might have a five year period to distribute, as well as pick up empties in the province, which will help if there's any lost members in retail."
Nock adds the announcement comes in the midst of the union negotiating a new deal with the Beer Store, with the current agreement expiring on December 31. He said Ford's announcement will be a major talking point.
"We anticipate bargaining into the new year, February, March, April, before we have a tentative agreement, which is usually our course. We usually don't get one before the end of the year. This will be a top priority of ours, to make sure that our members have some sort of cross-divisional training," explained Nock. "So if you're in retail and your store is closing, you have somewhere to land, or you can go into the warehouse, just that there's something there for you. That's our goal, for sure."
While Nock again maintains the change is "completely unnecessary," it will be business as usual until 2026, as the Premier had to give two years notice that the Master Framework Agreement was ending, which he did with his announcement. Nock says prior to the MFA, the Beer Store never had such an agreement ever with the government.
"We had the last one with the (Kathleen) Wynne government in 2015 that expires in 2025. Ford is not renewing that. I heard him saying that he was going to be in talks with the Beer Store, and that there would be an important role going forward for the Beer Store," Nock said. "My hope is that we do distribute the beer and we do keep picking up the empties for the province, which saves taxpayers roughly $40 million a year by not going to the blue box."
Nock says if they lost that, it would cause "devastation" for their members.
"There's a lot of people driving trucks picking up the empties. When they come back to the warehouses, they get sorted, they get piled. They get brought to a recycler by another Beer Store worker on a truck," Nock pointed out. "As far as retail, if there was no empties in the retail space, that's a lot of man hours processing those empties, over a billion bottles alone came into our retail spaces last year, that's a lot of work for our members. Absolutely, that would be devastating if that happened, for sure."
Additionally, as Nock emphasizes, the Beer Store does a lot of good in many communities, particularly smaller and more rural ones.
"We raise money for charities, leukemia fundraising, hospitals, we do tons of that stuff. We socially and responsibly sell. Pricing is the same across Ontario, same here as it is in Red Lake, you can buy the same case of beer for the exact same price. All that could change under this new system," Nock explained. "Ford said that he's gonna let retailers set their own price. My guess is that in far north or rural communities, you're gonna pay $4, $5, $6 maybe $10 more a case of beer than you would at the Beer Store, if the Beer Store wasn't there anymore."
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2023-12-15 12:04:56Z
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