Alcohol sales limited at BC Liquor Stores due to strike action

Strike action at BC Liquor Distribution Centres is now having a direct impact on customers.

In a measure that came into effect Friday, all government-owned BC Liquor Stores are limiting the quantity of alcohol that pubs, bars, restaurants, and members of the general public can buy in one transaction.

The BC Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB) says stores will limit your purchase to a maximum of three individual items per day. The restrictions will apply to all products except beer, and will be in place “until the LDB’s distribution centres resume normal operations.”

Multi-packs of alcohol, such as refreshment beverages (such as alcoholic sodas) will count as one unit. The limits are tied to barcodes.

“Examples of purchases that fit within the quantity limit could include: three bottles of one kind of vodka and three bottles of another kind of vodka [or] three 6-packs of a refreshment beverage, three bottles of wine, three bottles of another kind of wine,” the BCLDB explained, adding there is no limit on beer because “the majority of these products do not go through the LDB’s distribution centres.”

The BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) strike began Monday afternoon. Picket lines are up at distribution centres in Delta, Kamloops, Richmond, and Victoria, putting a squeeze on supply making its way out.

The BCLDB says it is “conscious of supply constraints,” adding “we want to do what we can to ensure equal access to product for all customers during the BCGEU job action.”

Jeff Guignard, executive director of BC’s Alliance of Beverage Licensees (ABLE BC) calls the rationing “insane.”

“The only reason BC Liquor Stores are rationing quantities is because of the BCGEU strike, which is shutting down BC’s vital liquor distribution warehouses.”

When asked how these restrictions will be enforced, Guignard says he doesn’t know.

“I assume they’re going to just be trusting customers that they will be buying by the limits. Unless you’re a pub or bar or restaurant, you likely don’t need endless of quantities of alcohol. There’s no need to panic buy on this … But it is going to be painful for the hospitality industry who rely on those stores for products.”

CityNews has reached out to the province for comment.

Restaurants and pubs in B.C. are still in recovery mode after the pandemic effectively shuttered businesses for months, and then COVID restrictions put further strains on their ability to make a profit.

“With the pandemic, at least we had everybody on the same page and we were innovative, we could find solutions, and we could work through the uncertainty,” said Ian Tostenson, president of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association, who calls this a “complete block by the BCGEU.”

“This industry, which is so brittle right now and is reliant on a strong summer to put a little bit of cash in the bank to get us through the fall, is now having to scramble with the labour shortage and scramble to find, if they can, alternate sources of product.”

Pubs, bars, nightclubs, and restaurants are able to source products directly from craft breweries, wineries, and distilleries around B.C.

“But the majority of products we get come from BC Liquor Stores,” said Guignard, adding the longer the strike goes on, the harder it will be on the hospitality industry.

“This strike is now going to become very visible to the general public”

Guignard says it is “deeply frustrating” that the BCGEU strike is disrupting the entire industry.

“You’re going to start to see shortages of popular products — particularly imported products and refreshment products, like those ready-to-drink canned sodas … You’ll see them out of stock probably over the course of the weekend.”

He warns if this strike goes on for another week, it will cost jobs.

“You’re going to start seeing businesses having to reduce hours, close, or lay off staff as they run out of certain products,” Guignard said.

“There’s not going to be a province-wide shortage of alcohol — we’re always going to have some products on the shelves, though it may not be the products that you want. Certain products, we will run out of them.”

Although these restrictions will affect BC Liquor stores, private stores will not be doing the same.

Tostenson calls this a blow to the hospitality industry.

“The limits that are now going into place … makes us really angry. We’re angry at the BCGEU for putting us in this position, that’s so archaic, to be held hostage to a dispute that we have nothing to do with.”

Related articles:

• B.C. restaurants may struggle to stock imported booze due to BCGEU strike

• BCGEU job action: Unclear when talks between province, union will resume

• BCGEU begins strike action at BC Liquor Distribution Centres

BCGEU President Stephanie Smith is pushing back against the suggestion that fault lies with her union.

“I really feel a lot of compassion for people who feel as though they are sort of caught in the middle of this. But, again, you know, strikes are inconvenient,” said Smith.

“I would categorically disagree that this is the fault of my members in the public service. This is the fault of government, our employer, they have not called us back to the table.”

Smith is giving no timeline for how long strikes at liquor distribution centres could go on for — saying it now lays in the government’s hands to call her union back to the bargaining table.

“The restaurant industry, the bar industry, we have a shared goal here, and that is to get the strike over as quickly as possible. And so we’re calling on them to join their voices to ours in compelling government to get back to the bargaining table to get a deal for these workers,” Smith added.

Guignard urges both sides of this labour dispute to get talks going again and make a deal.

“This needs to stop before it gets worse. We urge both sides to get back to the negotiation table immediately before this strike does further damage to BC’s economy.”

Earlier this week, Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s minister of jobs and economic recovery said the province “remain committed to the collective bargaining process and to reaching a fair and reasonable agreement.”

The BCGEU and its 33,000 members have previously been offered an 11 per cent wage increase by the province over the next three years under what would be a new collective agreement. Given the rising cost of living and inflation, the union has said that isn’t enough.

With files from Martin MacMahon, Monika Gul, Shawn Ayers, and Charlie Carey