Hospitality coalition presents call for emergency measures amid BCGEU strike

Members of B.C.’s hospitality, wine, beer, and liquor sectors are pressuring the provincial government to make changes to help them survive the ongoing public servants strike.

At a media event in Vancouver Friday morning, six representatives of industry associations presented a simple message:

“Enough,” said Jeff Guignard with Wine Growers of British Columbia (WGCB).

“While our businesses are being impacted by this strike, we have no ability to end it.”

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WGCB, the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA), Import Vintners and Spirits Association (IVSA), Restaurants Canada, the BC Craft Brewers Guild, and the Alliance of Beverage Licensees (ABLE BC) presented new provincewide survey data and called for immediate emergency measures to protect businesses.

The associations have called the strike by the BC General Employees’ Union “devastating.”

Union members at BC Liquor and Cannabis distribution centres first began participating in job action on Sept. 12, and all warehouses and head offices officially joined the strike on Sept. 22.

Since then, several hospitality industry leaders and restaurateurs have shared the strain that businesses are under while struggling to meet customer demand.

According to the coalition’s survey, ABLE BC’s executive director, Bo Chen, says 44 per cent of industry respondents are considering making layoffs.

Chen says 29 per cent have already been forced to reduce hours.

The group estimates B.C.’s hospitality is losing out on $10.5 million per day.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference Tuesday, Premier David Eby said it has been an “incredibly challenging time” not just for the restaurant sector but for many British Columbians looking to get government services, such as permits or licences.

The strike has been ongoing for 45 days. About 25,000 union members are off the job across 20 ministries, Crown corporations, and agencies.

According to an announcement by the BCGEU on Friday morning, the union and the provincial government will enter mediated talks as soon as possible.

Eby said once the strike is over, the supply challenges that the restaurant industry and liquor and cannabis retailers face will be resolved.

But Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BCRFA, says at that point, provincial distributors will be overwhelmed by a backlog of orders.

“This is an unprecedented mess,” said Tostenson on Friday.

“The last time there was a strike — for two and a half weeks — it took three months to restore the system. We’re going into week eight.”

Many of the representatives shared their concerns for industry members as the winter holiday season approaches.

Tostenson says the strike has brought the hospitality sector to its knees.

“They’re just sick and tired of being a bargaining chip in a dispute that has nothing to do with them.”

—With files from Nono Shen, The Canadian Press