Public urged to boycott ARC businesses in support of striking Kelowna liquor store employees

Workers at the Armstrong Regional Cooperative (ARC) Liquor Store in Kelowna’s Guisachan Village remain on strike.

They’ve been off the job since mid-September, holding out for wage increases to keep pace with inflation and the cost of living in Kelowna.

Julia Scott, an ARC Liquor Store employee currently on the picket line, claims that co-ops like ARC are “supposed to reflect basic values of community.”

“The cost of living keeps going up, but the Co-op refuses to offer concrete wage increases we can count on to continue living and working in this community,” she explained. “Their model for raises completely lacks transparency."

Scott, her colleagues and the BC Federation of Labour (BCFED) are now urging the public to support the strike by boycotting ARC business around the region.

“We’re asking British Columbians to support these workers with the one tool this employer seems to understand: their money,” said BCFEDpresident Sussanne Skidmore.

“By refusing to shop at ARC’s gas stations, liquor stores and retail locations, we can send ARC a clear message. We can tell them to come back to the bargaining table with a real offer that respects the employees who make their businesses possible.”

There are two ARC Liquor Stores in Kelowna – in Guisachan Village and along Harvey Avenue near Spall Road – as well as several Co-op gas bars in the Okanagan.