Wine Rack Workers Go On Strike

By Ivan Byard, YCLer in Toronto (Fred Rose club). Photos by Jay Watts.

On May 10, 86% of Wine Rack workers represented by SEIU (Services Employees International Union) Local 2 voted to take strike actions. Wine Rack, owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is the sole private mass wine retailer in Ontario. After management rejected a settlement, workers erected picket lines on June 7th at Wine Rack locations around Toronto. Workers are now calling for a total boycott on Wine Rack to support the strike. 

Low wages and poor working conditions have led to an annual employee turnover rate of 50% at the chain, and management has been insisting that unionized Wine Rack locations accept the same wages as non-union Wine Rack locations. These non-union locations are outside of the Greater Toronto Area, which has the highest cost of living in the province. Beyond compensation, respect for workers and their union has been at the centre of the bargaining table.

Workers are fighting for more control and consistency over scheduling, as management has ignored seniority rights and does not schedule sufficient or fair hours. Week to week, Wine Rack workers have no idea how many hours they will receive, making day-to-day budgeting and scheduling impossible. Store managers also use the scheduling system for preferential treatment, ignoring the seniority rights of members. In addition, interference in access to union bulletin boards at the workplace has led to legal complaints against Wine Rack. Clearly, Wine Rack management has been consistent in demonstrating their anti-union ideology. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial government has labelled Wine Rack workers essential, meaning they are required to work throughout each new lockdown or stay-at-home order, and that workers must either put up with unfair and inconsistent scheduling, or risk being jobless through the pandemic.

On June 9th, in response to the united campaigning of Wine Rack workers, teachers and educators, and community members, the President of the OSSTF/FESSP (Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation) wrote to the the President of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan on behalf of the over 60,000 members calling for an end to attempts to subvert the rights of the unionised members of SEIU Local 2, and demanding to bargain in good faith. 

YCL-LJC members from both the Dorise Nielson and Fred Rose clubs in Toronto have been out to walk the picket lines. To help beat the heat, young communists brought sports drinks, popsicles, ice cream, and the latest issues of Rebel Youth – Jeunesse Militante to the strikers. At one picket line, workers blasted thrash metal at the entrance of the Wine Rack to encourage consumers to take their business to a nearby LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the “Crown” corporation retailer of wine and spirits) instead.

This Saturday in Toronto, there will be a solidarity rally at 77 Wellesley Street East at 1pm.

This is an important labour struggle for all YCL-LJCers to take notice of. These are low-paid, precarious retail workers who have worked throughout the whole pandemic — despite high turnover and attacks on their ability to communicate and organize, they are now standing up for the fundamental right for all union employees to be able to access sufficient hours based on duration of employment.