Rural Manitoba liquor vendor says he may run out of stock by this weekend due to strike

The owner of a private liquor vendor in eastern Manitoba says he may be out of inventory by this weekend due to the ongoing strike by Liquor & Lotteries workers.

Ray Schirle, the mayor of Beausejour, co-owns a campground resort in nearby Lac du Bonnet that includes a liquor vendor.

People are driving more than an hour from Winnipeg just to purchase alcohol at his store, he said Thursday — a sign they’re getting desperate.

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

With a few exceptions, all Liquor Mart locations remained closed Thursday, after unionized employees began a provincewide strike earlier this week.

Five Winnipeg stores are being kept open by managers, along with one each in Brandon and Thompson.

The full strike is the latest escalation in a weeks-long labour dispute between Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries and the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, which represents about 1,400 Liquor Mart workers.

While Schirle says his store has been able to stay open during the strike, he gets his supply from Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, so it’s impacting his inventory.

 

Manitoba liquor workers’ strike shows no signs of drying up

 

The union representing striking Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries workers accused the employer of a double standard, saying top managers are getting wage increases well above what union members are being offered.

He’s been able to keep beer and coolers in stock through private suppliers, but even those are running low, Schirle said.

With so little inventory, he said he’s had to turn down customers looking for alcohol for events.

“One couple came in last week because they have a wedding event in three weeks.… They never even thought about their liquor until the last minute,” he said.

“They were pretty upset,” he said — not with him, but “with the process that they couldn’t have any alcohol, or their preference, at their yard wedding.”

Even if the strike ends soon, Schirle says it will be awhile before things are back to normal for him and other private vendors, since Liquor & Lotteries will have to restock its Liquor Mart locations first.

“Then basically all the rural locations get what’s left over,” he said.

“I think we’ll get some stuff, but we won’t be full cycle for at least a month, going on two months, [in] my opinion.”

Sales down

Alcohol brands are feeling the pinch too, says Flavia Fabio, a provincial sales manager for a national wine and spirits agency.

With operations at the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries distribution centre also impacted, Fabio says the businesses she represents aren’t able to get their products on shelves since everything is stored at the centre.

“It’s impacting [them] big time,” she said. “Sales are plummeting because people cannot access products.”

Fabio says she’s feeling the pressure from those businesses.

“It’s hard for them to understand, but there’s very little we can do.… It’s an extreme situation right now.”

If the strike drags on, Fabio says she’s going to have to drive wine to a fundraising event in Flin Flon herself.

Union misrepresenting execs’ pay: Liquor & Lotteries

On Thursday, MGEU pulled out annual compensation reports that show two top executives —CEO Gerry Sul and executive vice-president Robert Holmberg — made almost $250,000 last year and received an annual average pay increase of four per cent between 2018 and 2022.

Meanwhile, wages for liquor workers increased by an annual average of 0.43 per cent during the same time span, according to the union.

“We are not asking for buckets of cash. We’re asking for fairness,” union president Kyle Ross said at a Thursday news conference, which was held alongside a rally outside Premier Heather Stefanson’s constituency office.

In a statement to CBC News on Thursday, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries says the union is misrepresenting how much money top executives are making, as they get the same annual increases as everyone else at the Crown corporation.

Sul and Holmberg’s total compensation figures provided by the union on Thursday also include their benefits, payouts for vacation and salary changes as both men took on different jobs, according to Liquor & Lotteries.

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