Cascadia Liquor Store Strike - Beverage Workers Rising

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Cascadia Liquor Store Strike over!

We have a deal!

Update: June 16, 2024

After 43 days of walking the picket line, Cascadia Liquor workers have won their first union contract! The three-year contract includes significant wage increases, wage premiums for specialized positions, health and dental benefits, and other improvements.
More details will be available soon.

Thank you!

We received amazing support and solidarity from the local community who consistently showed up on picket lines and for rallies. They brought us food, drinks and kind words of support. Thank you to everyone who chose to shop elsewhere during the past six weeks. All of this made a significant difference and helped us win this fight. Thank you to the labour movement, social justice organizations and elected leaders who supported us!

Member Voices

“If Cascadia isn’t going to recognize the hard work we do to help make their business successful, we have no recourse other than to strike.”

—Alyssa Lansdowne-Allan
Eagle Creek Store

“It’s simply a red herring to suggest that tips – which are by no means guaranteed – are a built-in part of our wages. It’s up to an employer to pay its staff – not the customer.” ”

—Kelsey Hann
Quadra Village Store

“I’m not just striking for myself – I’m also striking for my co-workers who struggle to make ends meet in a city where the cost of living has become untenable.” ”

—Pam Andee
Colwood Store

TAKE ACTION

Want to support Alyssa, Kelsey, Pam and their co-workers? Send Cascadia a message.

Cascadia needs to do better for workers in our community. Tell them to pay workers a fair wage and treat them with respect! Contact them through their online form.

You can also email them at info@cascadialiquor.com.

BACKGROUND

We need wages that allow us to live here but Cascadia doesn’t seem to agree.

Living in Victoria is expensive! Every worker in our city needs fair wages and respect. We need reasonable and reliable scheduled raises that keep up with the increasing cost of living.

Cascadia liquor store workers from three locations came together to form a Union because we needed improvements and fairness. Workers from the Quadra Store applied for certification on July 24, 2023; workers from the Eagle Creek Store applied on October 15, 2023; and workers from the Colwood Store on November 6, 2023.

There are approx. 60 workers in our Union, 45 of whom are regularly scheduled. Most of us make between $18-19 per hour. The lower end of that is not far from the June 1st minimum wage.

Cascadia workers simply want increases that will bring us level with workers in other unionized private liquor store chains in BC: a $19.50 probationary rate, a $20 starting rate, and $21 after a year of service. A little more with additional seniority.

But Cascadia’s proposal would provide a base wage of only $18.85 for most workers. On top of that you would have to work over 2600 hours to qualify for the next raise (which would still be under $20). With the number of shifts we get, that could take 2 to 3 years!

We believe Cascadia should invest in its workers – not in fighting us.

They spent money on multiple lawyers trying to stop us from bargaining as one group. They hired an HR consultant to conduct bargaining who took very aggressive positions resulting in the situation we are in now. The company’s decision-makers have not come to bargain with us – only low-level management who are not authorized to make decisions have come to the table. They have shown a willingness to spend money to fight our efforts for a fair contract – but are not to provide us with fair wages.

This is our first collective agreement, and in some respects, Cascadia seems intent on seeing us go backwards.

For example, they want to extend the probation period from 3 to 5 months. We hope Cascadia agrees that good jobs with fairness and dignified pay are important in our community!

We enjoy serving the clients in our community, but we need to earn fair wages to continue doing so. We believe Victoria agrees.

The Cascadia Liquor stores are owned by the Truffles Group, which also own Truffles Catering, Habitat Catering, Flight Cannabis (three locations), Victoria Butterfly Gardens, and thirteen Cascadia Liquor store locations.

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Cascadia Liquor Store Strike over!

We have a deal!

Update: June 16, 2024

Thank you!

Member Voices

TAKE ACTION

BACKGROUND

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