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LCBO has bright future, Premier Ford says as two-week-long strike comes to an end

  • The Canadian Press

  • Canadian Press

  • July 22, 2024

Workers are back on the job today at Ontario's main liquor retailer, but the Liquor Control Board of Ontario says stores won't be open for business until Tuesday. A cash register remains closed at a shuttered LCBO store in Toronto, as LCBO workers continue their strike, on Monday, July 15, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he believes the province's main liquor retailer has a bright future as thousands of workers returned to work Monday after a two-week strike.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario says stores will be open for business on Tuesday.

Ford says he has great confidence in the LCBO's future, despite concerns raised by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union during the strike.

The union representing the LCBO workers had said it believed Ford's plan to expand alcohol sales to convenience and grocery stores would threaten union jobs and the public revenue the LCBO provides to the province.

Ford sped up those plans after the strike began on July 5, allowing grocery stores already licensed to sell beer and wine to also sell ready-to-drink cocktail beverages as of Thursday last week.

The union ratified the proposed deal over the weekend.

This report by was first published July 22, 2024.