A brand new brewery in North Vancouver is almost ready to welcome guests, but a province-wide labor dispute has delayed those plans.
The new Bridge Brewing Company restaurant took three years to build. The beer is in stock, the taps are almost ready, and the staff has been hired.
“We wanted something more, something for the community,” said Bridge Brewing Company chief consumer officer Lee Stratton.
“It took a lot of patience on our part, but it really came together and we’re really excited about the space.”
But the ongoing strike by the BC General Employees Union (BCGEU) is preventing provincial liquor inspectors from working and remaining on the picket line.
Without inspections, a brewery will not be able to obtain a liquor license, which means it will not be able to sell alcohol.
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“The costs of building new breweries are significant. We approached this knowing when we could open them and planned accordingly,” Stratton said.
“Every day is revenue we can’t collect, guests we can’t serve and staff we can’t hire.”
It's not just one business caught in the middle.
The Craft Brewers Guild of British Columbia says the strike has already disrupted supply lines and is now stopping new businesses from opening.
“We need you to come back to the table. We need this to end. We need you to roll up your sleeves and get it done because the consequences of what's happening here are catastrophic for a number of businesses across all sectors,” said BC Craft Brewers Guild executive director Ken Beattie.
Even if the strike ends tomorrow, the guild says the backlog of inspections and beer deliveries will continue for weeks.
The strike is once again fueling calls for regulatory changes in the industry.
“You're going to have to do a lot of municipal and local municipal regulations and audits and inspections, and you're going to have to do that at the provincial level as well, and often they're repetitive,” Beatty said.
“So we're working with the government and asking for a much more streamlined and much faster system that doesn't repeat this.”
The job promotion will soon enter its seventh week.
For now, Stratton and her team are stuck waiting for the strike to end.
“I certainly understand and respect employees' right to exercise their authority and that the government is on the other side. But we are collateral damage,” she said.
“We'd like to just move forward, build our business, have our employees back at work and have guests here, and we're just stuck in limbo waiting for both sides to come to the table and make an agreement.”
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