Strike may become an election issue

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/08/2023 (1128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As if the summer of 2023 wasn’t hot enough, now Manitobans are finding it a bit drier than usual — unless of course, they planned ahead.

After weeks of rotating lockouts, Liquor Mart employees have taken to the picket line in a province-wide strike that has thrown a spanner in the works of not just the Liquor Marts themselves, but into the works of all who depend on the province’s distribution infrastructure, too.

As you can read in today’s paper, hotels and liquor vendors in western Manitoba are feeling the effects of the escalating labour dispute. Guy Lobreau told the sun that the strike has hindered his ability to maintain a diverse range of products.

“There are several products that we’re unable to bring in,” Lobreau said. “With the strike, they’re not shipping.”

“Absolutely, the strike is affecting our stock,” added Travelodge by Wyndham product manager Alexty Volosnikov. “We can’t order any liquor.”

Earlier this week, the CBC reported that Beausejour Mayor Ray Schirle, who also happens to be the co-owner of a campground resort in nearby Lac du Bonnet, says he may be out of inventory by this weekend due to the ongoing strike.

And with only five Liquor Mart stores open in Winnipeg — a city of more than 700,000 souls — at least a few people are making the drive more than an hour from Winnipeg just to purchase alcohol at his store.

“We weren’t open yesterday, and people were there begging us to sell them liquor,” he told the CBC.

The fact that all Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries decided late this past week to close all 63 government-owned Liquor Marts in Manitoba this weekend (with the exception of two Winnipeg locations that will be open this weekend only) — and every weekend for the rest of the month — will not leave these businesses in high spirits.

The 1,400 Liquor Mart employees have been without a contract since the previous agreement expired in March of last year. That’s not as long as some waited — the Manitoba Association of Health Care professionals went five years before finally striking a deal in July — but still longer than it needed to be.

At the heart of the strike is the issue of compensation: Liquor Mart employees want more than the two per cent pay increase over four years the province is offering.

Their frustration is perhaps understandable. Two per cent over four years is significantly less than has been afforded to members of the legislature just recently, with lawmakers getting 3.3 per cent just for this year, and 3.6 per cent for the next two years.

Two per cent over four years is a pittance by comparison, especially considering the challenges faced by Liquor Mart employees over the last few years, from the rampant thefts which exposed employees to danger, to the subsequent security upgrades which disrupted their work and changed the way their jobs are performed.

The province has contracted some non-union workers to perform duties normally done by the striking staff, but that has only just kept the flow of product from coming to a total halt.

Pictures of union staff on the picket line are sure to aid the New Democrats as we trudge ever forward to yet another provincial election this October. And as Manitobans ponder the election campaigns of our party hopefuls, leaving Liquor Mart employees hanging to the point of a province-wide strike will no doubt be spun by opposition members as pretty poor politics for a government aiming to hold on to power.

The province-wide strike will affect many Manitobans, some of them significantly: the strike has even raised concerns over the risk of alcohol withdrawal as addicts become pressed as a result of the closure.

It should be said that for those not at risk of withdrawal, alcohol is simply a vice, not a necessity. The Liquor Mart closures aren’t going to remove something from most Manitobans’ lives they absolutely need. However, it is something people are used to being around, and its absence will be felt — both in the pocketbook and in the gullet.

It will affect the many breweries and distilleries which have popped up across the province, who — while likely receiving increased in-house customer traffic as a result of the strike — are no doubt put in a tough spot by the closure of such a large part of their supply chain.

Case in point, Black Wheat Brewing owner Ted Birch said earlier this month that the decision by Liquor Mart to temporarily cease orders to all its suppliers during the labour dispute has impacted their sales.

“You know, the liquor vendors, like the beer vendors, have picked up their sales to compensate, but still, it is a major kick in the teeth,” Birch said.

And then there’s the hospitality industry, for whom the strike is just one more unneeded complication as it strains to get back to its feet in the post-pandemic era.

Whether this situation will become a major issue at the ballot box this fall depends upon the next actions of the Stefanson government. The PC government could simply decide to make a deal with the striking workers and give them more money than they’d like to.

Or they can let the situation fester and run the risk of ticking off Manitobans across the province who will be looking for someone to blame for their lack of social lubricant.

Pick your poison.

» Winnipeg Free Press and The Brandon Sun