Striking workers outside the BC Liquor store in Prince George.

By Tommy Osborne

BCGEU Strike

Restaurants and bars “barely surviving” as BCGEU liquor strike continues

Oct 8, 2025 | 5:46 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The BC General Employees Union strike against the provincial government is ramping up, with seemingly no resolution in sight. Among the striking workers are those in the liquor distribution and sales, which is now in its sixth week. This prolonged strike has created concerns for restaurants all across the province, who are finding themselves struggling with stock.

“We’re hearing from an increasing amount of members that they just don’t have any more liquor inventory left. And as a result of that, they’ll be forced to close their doors or reduce operating hours, and that will cause significant economic disruption to the hospitality industry, which is already barely surviving,” said Mark von Schellwitz, Vice-President for Western Canada, Restaurants Canada.

According to Restaurants Canada, 41% of restaurants are operating at a loss or just breaking even, and with alcohol sales making up a significant portion of revenue, the prolonged strikes are a serious threat to many businesses.

“As British Columbia’s third largest employer, this is going to have some significant economic repercussions unless the government either gets to the bargaining table really quickly and comes to a resolution or, as we’ve asked Premier Eby and the government to do, is they’ve got to consider some workarounds to enable us to be able to still acquire liquor products. Whether it be from the private retailers that we’re not allowed to buy from right now, or some other way to bypass LDB (Liquor Distribution Branch) to ensure that we can continue to serve our guests,” von Schellwitz said.

In the meantime, von Schellwitz says restaurants have been finding workarounds, but these are not sustainable solutions. Among them are selling leftover U.S. inventory that was previously unsold due to the “Buy Canadian” movement and maximizing product from B.C. producers, but there is not nearly enough B.C. product to meet the entire province’s demand.

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“Even though they’ve been very innovative in trying to make sure that they can continue to serve their guests liquor, it’s now coming to the point where there’s going to be some operational challenges, and people will basically shut their doors if they can’t sell liquor to British Columbians,” von Schellwitz said.

He continued to highlight the importance on government action to help these businesses, whether it’s workaround solutions, or even possibly a back to work order, although he hopes it doesn’t come to that.

“I know it’s the last resort. You don’t want to do this, but they (the government) may have to consider back to work legislation because the economic harm that the strike is now causing is significant,” he said.

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