Urgent Update: BCGEU Strike Update
Dear ABLE BC members and industry colleagues,
After two days of strike action by the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) at Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) warehouses, many of you are already experiencing serious negative impacts on your businesses. With no ability to restock Ready-to-Drink (RTD) products or imported wine and spirits, we know many of you will be out-of-stock of many items as early as this weekend.
We share your deep frustrations that your businesses are being unfairly impacted by this ongoing labour dispute. We have been in regular communication with government and have also connected with the BCGEU to ensure they understand how your small businesses are being hurt by this strike action.
Additionally, as of 3:30 pm today LDB Wholesale has shut down webstore and will not be accepting new orders until after the strike ends. All pending orders placed before strike action began including orders placed before webstore was shut down) will be assembled and shipped when the strike ends and LDB distribution operations resume. We will have further details on how these orders will be prioritized when the strike ends.
Click here to see an update from LDB Wholesale.
As a reminder, you can still order products from Brewers Distributed Ltd (BDL) as well as BC’s craft breweries, wineries, cideries, and distillers who offer direct delivery. See below for a list of local producers.
Stock Out Signage
As the BCGEU strike continues, many of our members are starting to see product stock outs. These stock outs are going to get worse and we expect to see bare shelves by the weekend.
To help manage customer expectations, we have created signage for your front door and shelves that explain your stock outs.
Click here for a free pdf download of front door signage, and here for a free pdf download of shelf talkers.
You can find these signs and more available for free in our online store.
Local Producers
While the BCGEU strike is preventing delivery of import products from the LDB, local BC producers are ready to accept and fulfill your orders. We encourage you to explore alternative products produced locally and delivered direct.
New Wave Wine Society (representing cideries, fruit, and mead wine)
List of wineries (broken down by region)
Frequently Asked Questions
We are in daily talks with government to discuss contingencies. We will continue to bring you updates as we have them.
Please continue to email jeff@ablebc.ca with your questions and to let us know how the strike is impacting your business.
In addition to the questions we answered yesterday, here are answers to more questions we have received from members.
Can Containerworld deliver import products currently in their warehouses?
Containerworld is able to deliver imported beer directly, but they are not able to deliver imported wine or spirits at this time. We will continue to explore this as a possible option and will provide updates as we are able.
Can we get shipments from Alberta?
Government has no plans to pull product or distribution services from Alberta at this time.
Will the order I placed, but that wasn't shipped before 3:30 pm on August 15, be assembled and shipped when the strike is over?
Yes, all orders currently in the system will be assembled and shipped as soon as the strike ends and the distribution centres come back online. LDB Wholesale is no longer accepting new orders and has temporarily shut down webstore.
How will LDB prioritize fulfilling orders placed during the strike?
We will have more details on this after the strike ends.