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Liquor rationing has customers fuming as BCGEU job action continues – Vancouver Sun

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“Today we’re asking both sides to get back to the table immediately and find a deal because this is now impacting B.C.’s entire $15-billion liquor industry … and 200,000 workers that we employ.” — Jeff Guignard, executive director of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees

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Shoppers were upset Saturday after a major union’s job action forced them to ration their liquor purchases at government-run retailers.

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Although British Columbians are now confined to buying three of the same item, with the exception of beer, it was the lack of products on store shelves that was the cause for frustration.

“I couldn’t even get what I came for,” one woman told Postmedia upon exiting a B.C. Liquor Store location in East Vancouver.

“The only thing I drink, Okanagan apple cider, was sold out. I was forced to buy another kind —— I’m not happy about it.”

Another customer, a man, told Postmedia he bought two bottles of Smirnoff vodka as the product’s larger variety he normally buys was sold out. 

“The shelves are getting empty,” he said, noting the “temporarily unavailable” tag that labelled many areas of empty stock in the store.

The B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch’s rationing order came as 33,000 members of the B.C. General Employees Union launched limited job action, including pickets around the liquor distribution outlets, to back contract demands that include wage protection against inflation.

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Picketing began Monday afternoon at four BCL distribution centres — in Delta, Kamloops, Richmond and Victoria. Last Friday, the BCGEU handed the province 72 hours’ strike notice after months of bargaining.

The LDB said the “modest” limitations are meant to ensure there is enough liquor to go around “for as many customers as possible.”

In a statement Friday, Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon urged everyday customers against panic buying, encouraging them to “respect the purchase limits implemented to support equity.”

“Not everyone has the same capacity to make large purchases and we don’t want customers being at a disadvantage,” Kahlon said.

For Vancouver’s private retailers, bars and pub owners, the employment irresolution has ignited a new worry.

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Simon Fallick, the owner of The American and Hero’s Welcome, said if the job action continues for longer than two weeks, his next warehouse order could leave him short of vodka.

“Everyone that has a liquor license has to purchase from the government, all imported items going through their warehouses. Since the vodka we use, Absolut, is from Sweden, this break in the supply chain is a nuisance,” Fallick said.

“Thankfully, most of our business is based on selling local beer and wine.”

A person’s purchases are seen in a shopping cart at a government-run BC Liquor Store in Vancouver, on Friday, August 19, 2022. British Columbia’s Finance Ministry says government-run liquor stores are implementing limits on alcohol sales in response to job action affecting several distribution outlets, effective immediately. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Jeff Guignard, executive director of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees, said that imported drinks will likely be first to run dry on the shelves of private liquor stores.

“Customers are going to start to see stock-outs this weekend,” Guignard said, noting that B.C. beer, spirits and cider are less affected.

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  1. BCGEU strike starts by targeting liquor, cannabis distribution


  2. BCGEU members reject 9.99 per cent pay hike over three years


  3. Vaughn Palmer: B.C. NDP challenger sides with striking union

He said some retailers had experienced limited “panic buying” as a result of the strike action, and news of the rationing could make it worse.

“Today we’re asking both sides to get back to the table immediately and find a deal because this is now impacting B.C.’s entire $15-billion liquor industry, thousands of small businesses and 200,000 workers that we employ.”

Although most private liquor stores don’t intend to impose purchasing similar limits, one Vancouver retailer, Legacy Liquor Store, has opted to restrict customers’ daily purchases to 12 bottles of wine and six bottles of spirits.

— with files from The Canadian Press

sgrochowski@postmedia.com

twitter.com/sarahgrochowski


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Netflix’s subscriber growth slows as gains from password-sharing crackdown subside

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Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service’s crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.

The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year. Even so, the company’s revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.

Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers — far more than any other streaming service.

The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company’s revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.

The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix’s stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company’s shares so far this year.

The past quarter’s subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch its popular service without paying for it.

The crackdown, triggered by a rare loss of subscribers coming out of the pandemic in 2022, helped Netflix add 57 million subscribers from June 2022 through this June — an average of more than 7 million per quarter, while many of its industry rivals have been struggling as households curbed their discretionary spending.

Netflix’s gains also were propelled by a low-priced version of its service that included commercials for the first time in its history. The company still is only getting a small fraction of its revenue from the 2-year-old advertising push, but Netflix is intensifying its focus on that segment of its business to help boost its profits.

In a letter to shareholder, Netflix reiterated previous cautionary notes about its expansion into advertising, though the low-priced option including commercials has become its fastest growing segment.

“We have much more work to do improving our offering for advertisers, which will be a priority over the next few years,” Netflix management wrote in the letter.

As part of its evolution, Netflix has been increasingly supplementing its lineup of scripted TV series and movies with live programming, such as a Labor Day spectacle featuring renowned glutton Joey Chestnut setting a world record for gorging on hot dogs in a showdown with his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi.

Netflix will be trying to attract more viewer during the current quarter with a Nov. 15 fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned boxer, and two National Football League games on Christmas Day.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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