Restaurants struggling as LCBO strike nears one week

It’s nearly a week into the LCBO strike and restaurants are feeling the effects. Many are struggling to stay stocked with alcohol in order to be able to offer full menus.

Both sides aren’t even at the negotiating table at the moment. Premier Doug Ford says no deal will be reached with striking LCBO workers if the union representing employees continues to push to keep ready-to-drink cocktails out of grocery and convenience stores.

At Pub Italia, in Ottawa’s Little Italy, it’s been tough to keep everything stocked as the strike nears one week.

“We were expecting a delivery today and of course we’re not going to get it. They did say they were going to be accepting deliveries, but they’re picketing the warehouses now,” said Joe Cotroneo, who is the owner of the business.

There’s an extensive list of beers and cocktails at the restaurant. Missing one shipment of booze has an impact.

“Today, we probably would have got 15 to 20 cases of a combination of beer, wine, and alcohol,” said Cotroneo, who estimates the value of the shipment was near $2,500.

All LCBO locations province-wide have been closed since last Friday after around 9,000 workers represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union walked off the job.

The union says the primary issue is the Ford government’s expansion of alcohol sales in convenience stores, the sticking point specifically ready-to-drink cocktails.

For those in the restaurant industry, there’s been challenges right across the province for getting online orders.

“I do expect the longer this goes on that will happen, especially with sort of specialty cocktails that you see some of those signature drinks that people make with unique liquors, that are definitely not going to be available to us, or that you weren’t able to sort of stockpile,” said Sarah Chown of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, who is also a managing partner of Metropolitan Brasserie.

While the Metropolitan Brasserie was able to stockpile booze before the strike, not all small businesses can afford to.

“We’ve got a lot of operators, especially small independent operators, that simply just didn’t have the cash flow to stock up for two weeks,” said Kelly Higginson, president of Restaurants Canada.

Higginson adds that it’s challenging for restaurants that are still recovering post-pandemic.

“It dramatically impacts our bottom line and alcohol is about 30 to 40 per cent for many of our licensee operators, which is significant,” said Higginson.

Meanwhile, the chair of OPSEU SEFPO’s liquor board employees division says the premier needs to come to the bargaining table and reassure worker that the LCBO will continue to operate and bring in revenue to help the province grow.