Now entering its fourth week, the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) is escalating strike action around the province, with liquor and cannabis warehouses being impacted.
In a statement made on Sept.22, BCGEU said that until now, its members have focused job action on core government operations to “avoid disrupting the public.”
“But with government refusing to come back to the table, we’re left with no choice. Public service workers cannot keep falling further behind,” stated BCGEU president Paul Finch, in a statement.
“Government’s low offer is essentially telling British Columbians to expect cuts to the services they depend on. We will continue escalating until government brings a fair wage mandate. The next move is theirs.”
BCGEU members on strike in Vancouver. (BCGEU/Flickr)
Starting today, BC LDB (Liquor Distribution Branch) Liquor and Cannabis warehouses and head office will be on strike.
Five additional ministry worksites in Victoria and Vancouver have also joined the strike action.
What does this mean for restaurants and bars in B.C.?
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Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BCRFA, told Daily Hive in an interview that the latest news will have a fairly quick impact on liquor supplies at restaurants and bars across the province.
“Small restaurants order maybe once a week…and large restaurants order twice a week,” he said.
He added that some restaurants choose to buy their liquor from B.C. Liquor stores, but now that those stores won’t be able to get supplies from their own warehouses, “that’ll burn out fairly quickly.”
“If you’re a restaurant that’s buying from the government warehouses, even you can’t get any product. So for people who had liquor orders coming like today and tomorrow, they’re going to feel it probably pretty immediately,” stated Tostenson.
He added that the BCRFA is feeling “angry” over the current escalation.
“We’re disappointed that we’re caught up in this at a time … when we know our industry is… struggling right now,” he explained.
“To be caught up in a third-party labour dispute, in our opinion, is just wrong.”
BCGEU noted that there are now 10,000 public service workers striking at 36 sites across B.C., with 28 active picket lines.
The BCGEU represents more than 34,000 provincial public service workers across B.C.
Their jobs range from wildfire response and child protection to corrections, court support, and liquor and cannabis distribution.
Members are calling for wages that keep pace with inflation, as well as updates to their contract to address recruitment and retention challenges in the public service.
The union also wants fairer access to remote work, a modernized classification system, and limits on the growth of management positions.
The Professional Employees Association (PEA), which represents about 1,800 licensed professionals, including engineers and psychologists, has also joined the strike.
Daily Hive has reached out to BCGEU and BC Liquor Distribution Branch. We will update this story if we receive a response.
With files from Bhahyashree Chatterjee