Effective immediately, and with no end date in sight, all government-owned BC Liquor Stores are limiting the quantity of alcohol that customers can purchase in a single transaction — including restaurants and bars..Implemented to “curtail panic buying,” the limit has been set to three of any individual item, with the exception being import and domestic beer..The Alliance of Beverage Licensees of BC (ABLE BC) said in a statement that the only reason it's instituting a ration policy is because of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) strike, which it says is shutting down the province’s liquor distribution warehouses..“We understand this difficult decision will be deeply frustrating to members who rely on BC Liquor Stores for vital inventory,” said ABLE BC Friday..“As we have noted in media and in discussions with both government and the BCGEU, this ongoing labour dispute is now causing serious and unacceptable disruptions to BC’s liquor and cannabis industries.”.The alliance says both sides need to return to the negotiation table immediately before the strike causes “further damage” to the industry’s small businesses and the 200,000 workers it employs..The BCGEU’s members initiated the job action Monday in an effort to back demands for cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), which the union says will protect its member's wages amid inflation..“Currently, government negotiators tabled compensation proposals that do not offer meaningful wage protection and essentially amount to a wage cut in the current environment,” writes the Union..The BCGEU says COLA clauses were common in collective agreements in the late 80s and early 90s.
