Hamburgers frying on grills opposite LCBO headquarters today signalled a readiness by union workers to hit the picket line tomorrow night at midnight.

A trend toward part-time and casual jobs, and a management proposal to be able to issue 90-day layoff notices at any time — to any employee — remain the top two bones of contention, union leaders said.

"This is about workers being poorly treated — part-time and casual workers," union vice-president and treasurer Patty Rout told reporters near a parked trailer ready to become a strike command centre.

"Twenty years ago, all the jobs were full-time," she said. "Now, 60 per cent are part-time or casual, people making $10 to $17 an hour, making less than $20,000 a year."

Earlier in negotiations, LCBO managers asked for the freedom to lay off an employee for 90 days and then call the person back again, said Ontario Public Service Employees Union representative Craig Hadley.

"So even full-time jobs are not secure," he said.

A blackout on news from collective bargaining talks prevented union representatives from saying how close or far apart the parties are on an agreement.

Inside the trailer, parked half a block east of Yonge St. near the waterfront, picket signs reading "Half a Job is Not Enough" and "Ontario Needs Good Jobs" were piled high as though ready for use.

"This isn't a money thing," Hadley said when asked what wage demands the union is making.

"Going in, we were looking to match inflation," he said. "Where that's gone, I don't know."

The timing of the strike deadline for provincial liquor store workers and the strike by Toronto city workers is purely coincidental, she said.