SAQ launches surprise Friday afternoon strike; 10 Montreal locations remain open

Workers at Quebec's liquor board (SAQ) walk off the job on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2024. (Matt Gilmour, CTV News)

If you were hoping to buy a bottle of Pinot Grigio to kick off the weekend in Quebec, you're not going to be happy.

Workers at the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) walked off the job at 2:30 p.m. Friday and launched a surprise strike.

Employees have been striking to denounce their employer's wage proposal during ongoing negotiations. The collective agreement for SAQ employees expired on March 31, 2023.

On Thursday, the Syndicat des employés des magasins et de bureaux de la SAQ (SEMB), affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), asked its roughly 5,000 store and office employees not to cross the picket line for a one-day strike.

In a message posted on its Facebook page, the union said Friday's strike is a "reminder to the employer: we still have several days of strike action left in our pockets. It's up to them if we don't need them."

10 locations still open in Montreal area

A notice on the SAQ website Friday afternoon said it acknowledged the union's call for an immediate strike.

"Our business continuity plan is being deployed to provide you with limited access to our network for the duration of the strike," the SAQ said.

The following stores in the Montreal area will be open until 9 p.m.

The SAQ website remains open for customers.

"The decision of the SAQ store and office employees' union (the SEMB) to initiate another strike, without even waiting for our expected return this afternoon on their counteroffer, disappoints us. It's important to repeat that after more than 21 months of negotiation, it is time for an agreement to be settled, for the benefit of our employees and our customers," the liquor board said in a statement.

The Canadian Press reported this week that the union rejected the employer's latest offer on wages last week, arguing it would introduce setbacks on overtime pay and reduce the SAQ's contribution to health insurance coverage.

The union said that the employer is proposing a 16.5 per cent wage increase over six years, but that it would have to withdraw its demands and accept the employer's conditions to obtain this increase.

With files from The Canadian Press