‘Anxiety’ for restaurateurs as B.C. job action escalates to liquor warehouses

Members of the British Columbia General Employees' Union clap as union President Paul Finch speaks, outside an ICBC driver licensing office, in Surrey, B.C., Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS

The head of a British Columbia restaurant industry association says businesses are in a state of “nervousness and anxiety” over possible liquor distribution disruptions as public service labour strife expands to several warehouses.

The BC General Employees’ Union announced Friday that it was escalating job action by starting an overtime ban at several Liquor Distribution Branch warehouse locations.

The union said the ban applies to distribution centres in Delta, Richmond and Kamloops as well as at the Liquor Distribution Branch’s head office in Burnaby, pushing the number of B.C. public service workers involved in job action to more than 6,000.

In a statement, the provincial finance ministry said the Liquor Distribution Branch is continuing to take steps to maintain regular operations “to the best of their ability at this time.”

“LDB distribution centres will continue to receive and ship product within regular operating hours during the overtime ban, and will continue to provide updates on potential impacts to service levels as they become known,” the statement said.

BCGEU job action that includes pickets across B.C. is in its second week as the union’s 34,000 or so public service members seek higher compensation to address cost of living and other issues.

There was a flurry of reports last weekend that liquor distribution could be targeted, and while union president Paul Finch said on Monday that it wasn’t planning to immediately add liquor or cannabis distribution sites to expanding job action, he did not rule out targeting them in future pickets.

BC Restaurant and Food Services Association president Ian Tostenson said in an interview Friday that concern is at “eight-plus” out of 10, with the prospect of further job action in government-run liquor distribution looming.

Tostenson said while larger restaurants have begun increasing alcohol stocks, smaller family-run businesses have neither the space nor the funds to guard against disruption at the Liquor Distribution Branch.

“I liken it to, an example would be that you owned a bank and someone said, ‘I’m going to come and rob you at some point but I’m not going to tell you when,’” he said.

“So the feeling of nervousness and anxiety for us and uncertainty is paramount.”

He said the overtime ban itself should not affect current distribution too much beyond a slowdown in product movement, but it is a “warning shot” from the union in its dispute with the province.

“It just sets into motion an uncertainty that we shouldn’t be having to deal with, in an industry right now that’s been faced with major labour shortages in our kitchens and tariff uncertainties, economic uncertainties,” Tostenson said.

“So for us to be party to a third-party labour dispute, we’re not happy about it.”

The BCGEU said Friday that the province has not returned to bargaining with a new offer, adding that the Ministry of Finance’s description of the union’s last proposal mischaracterizes workers’ position on wages.

The ministry said in response that it is “ready” to continue discussing the deal, noting that “the best deals are reached at the bargaining table.”

“In every cycle of bargaining, we have demonstrated our willingness to get a good deal for everyone, with fair and reasonable wages that also help us maintain our fiscal plan,” the ministry’s statement said.

The BCGEU says it proposes an 8.25 per cent wage increase over two years, while the province has said the union wants a 15.75 per cent compensation increase, including both wages and allowances.

The ministry had said previously that the government’s offer when talks ended was a 4.5 per cent compensation increase over two years.

This report by Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press, was first published Sept. 12, 2025.