Patrons line up outside ‘really busy’ Liquor Marts, show support for striking workers

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This article was published 12/08/2023 (787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some patrons waiting in long lineups outside two city Liquor Marts Saturday expressed support for striking employees, as the provincewide strike involving 1,400 workers stretched into its fifth day.

“My opinion is just give (the workers) what they want,” said Jeremy Koch, who was among a dozen customers gathered before noon outside the Crestview Liquor Mart at 3393 Portage Ave.

Crestview and the Liquor Mart at 827 Dakota St. in St. Vital remained the only two Liquor Marts open across the province Saturday. They stores drew large crowds, with customers travelling from across the city and beyond to purchase booze.

Darian Lagman and his girlfriend, Elisa Gan, drove from Transcona to the Liquor Mart in St. Vital to buy alcohol for a party. They arrived roughly a half hour before the store opened and were greeted by a line of nearly 100 people.

“Good thing we came when we did, otherwise we’d be way back there,” Langman said as he exited the store, gesturing toward the end of the line. “It was frantic inside — really busy.”

Liquor Mart closures were spurred by an ongoing wage dispute between Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries and members of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union.

Union members have been without a contract since March 2022 and want raises in line with those obtained by Premier Heather Stefanson and her cabinet — 3.3 per cent in 2023 and 3.6 per cent in both 2024 and 2025.

“It’s really unfortunate that Manitobans are facing the brunt of this. We could end this tomorrow, provided we get a fair deal,” union president Kyle Ross said by phone Saturday. “If you’re frustrated by this, and you want this to end, please let Premier Stefanson and her cabinet know because they are the ones holding this deal up.”

MLL is offering two per cent a year over four years, and raising the hourly starting wage $2.38 above the province’s minimum wage.

On Friday, Stefanson accussed the union of not “telling their members what is really on the table for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries.”

Ross called the accusation insulting, saying union members understand and are disatisfied with the Crown corporation’s offer.

“I’m talking to our members, so I really find it frustrating that the Premier seems to think she knows what they are feeling,” he said.

Strike action began Tuesday and has continued to escalate. Negotiations have been “difficult,” and little progress has been made through the week, Ross said.

Koch said he empathizes with workers.

“The wage gap and what a livable wage is has gotten really bad since COVID,” Koch said. “It’s not even a matter of keeping up, it’s a matter of scraping bottom… There’s no such thing as a single income family. That dream house has turned into a dream apartment now. And that van by the river is starting to look pretty good.”

He said the idea that workers are lazy is wrong.

“There’s this idea that people… don’t want to work. It’s like, no, people can’t afford anything even when they do work.”

The current starting hourly wage for MLL workers is $14.91, increasing to $15.30 in October in line with the raise in minimum wage. The promised bump for entry-level workers would increase the starting wage to $17.68 hourly this year and by March 2025, the starting wage would be $18.57, when a one per cent recruitment and retention adjustment is applied that year.

Kim Kingdon, who admitted she hadn’t heard about the strike, was surprised to find a lineup when she arrived at the St. Vital Liquor Mart. Other waiting patrons informed her of the strike action and closures.

“I’ve been through this and I support workers 100 per cent,” said Kingdon, who said she was involved in strike action with the Canada Revenue Agency earlier this year. “It’s stressful not knowing if… you’ll be able to support your family.”

According to the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries website, the Crestview, Garden City Square, Grant Park, Hargrave at Ellice and St. Vital Square locations in Winnipeg will be open 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays next week, as will the Brandon South location. The Thompson Liquor Mart will operate at reduced hours next week.

MLL has also converted two of its locations, the Eastwinds Liquor Mart at 1530 Regent Ave. in Winnipeg and the Brandon Victoria Liquor Mart at 1015 Victoria Ave. in Brandon, to commercial-only stores. These locations will not be open to the public and shoppers will have to provide licensee identification.

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The last liquor-related labour dispute in the province was in October 1978, when workers went on strike for seven weeks.

Ross could not predict how long the current dispute may last, saying anything is possible.

MLL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A full list of store openings and hours is available on the MLL website at www.liquormarts.ca/hours.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.