LCBO war of words continues even after strike ends

Both sides in the LCBO dispute had plenty to say about one another Monday, even after a deal was reached over the weekend to end the two-week long strike.

OPSEU President JP Hornick took aim at the LCBO chair, saying in a statement to 680 News Radio that “Unfortunately, the LCBO itself has been politically hijacked – more specifically, members of its board of directors have been bought, especially its Chair Carmine Nigro.”

Nigro, a developer and president of Craft Development Corp., a former vice-chairman of the PC Ontario Fund, was named by the Ford government as chairman of the LCBO in 2019.

During the LCBO strike, Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie said Ford should part ways with Nigro who she called “his close friend.”

“Mr. Nigro is a close personal friend of Doug Ford. He has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the PCs,” Crombie said in a July 12 statement.

“Mr. Nigro was also handpicked to be Doug Ford’s Chair of the Ontario Place Corporation and sits on the Board of Directors for Invest Ontario.”

“Their relationship of over 10 years speaks for itself, and it’s clear to us that Mr. Nigro does not have Ontarians’ best interests in mind – only those of the Premier and his CEO friends,” Hornick said.

Premier Ford speaking Monday took aim at a last minute OPSEU request Friday for back strike pay for workers.

“I said the people would lose their minds. Imagine if I was taking your tax dollars for paying people that weren’t working. It’s absolutely crazy. Finally they came to their senses,” Ford said.

OPSEU finalized the deal on Saturday without getting any money for back pay.

“We learned many things with this strike, people were still able to get their alcohol” Ford said.

But he went on to reiterate his support for the LCBO indicated he plans to keep it public.

“I differentiate between labour and labour leadership. I support the frontline labour folks,” he said.

LCBO stores are set to reopen Tuesday.