Eby’s NDP government leaves restaurants and hospitality workers high and dry in escalating strike
“Now, restaurants, families, and 185,000 food and beverage hospitality workers are paying the price for NDP incompetence.”
– Kiel Giddens, Conservative Labour Critic
VICTORIA,B.C.: Conservative Labour Critic Kiel Giddens says the BC NDP government’s chronic fiscal mismanagement has fueled the escalating labour disruptions now threatening the viability of restaurants, bars, and the livelihoods of hospitality workers across British Columbia.
“Premier Eby’s government has created this mess,” said Giddens. “Instead of managing public sector spending responsibly, they’ve run up record deficits, grown management bureaucracy by 45% since 2017, and left frontline workers and small businesses failing further behind. Now, restaurants, families, and 185,000 food and beverage hospitality workers are paying the price for NDP incompetence.”
On September 21, the BCGEU expanded strike action to liquor and cannabis distribution warehouses in Burnaby, Delta, Richmond, and Kamloops, cutting off the beer, wine, and spirits supply chain that restaurants are legally required to use. With more than 10,000 public sector workers on 28 active picket lines and the strike entering its fourth week, the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association has warned that supplies could run out “within days.” That leaves 7,500 licensed restaurants — and the jobs attached to them — directly exposed to the government’s failure to prevent or resolve the crisis.
“The Premier continues to attack affordability for workers as his government’s mismanagement is emptying shelves, undermining paycheques, and putting small businesses on the brink,” Giddens added. “The NDP are only making things worse for families who depend on steady paycheques from these employers. They should get back to the bargaining table before more British Columbians pay the price for their failures.”
Since 2019, over 50% of foodservice and hospitality businesses have become unprofitable as it is – a nearly 5-fold increase. The latest strike escalation piles onto an industry already struggling. Without stable supply chains, restaurants risk closures and layoffs, while ripple effects threaten B.C. wineries, breweries, distributors, and producers. Customers will soon feel it too — from vanishing Okanagan wines to disappearing craft beers and cocktail favourites.
“British Columbians deserve a government that manages responsibly, respects small businesses and workers, and protects vital industries,” said Giddens. “Instead, the NDP has delivered the worst string of deficits in provincial history and left families and businesses as collateral damage in a crisis of their own making.”
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Media Contact:
Ryan Painter
Communications
Ryan.Painter@leg.bc.ca
