Restaurant owners outraged by SAQ strike

While many SAQ customers are stuck on empty shelves, restaurateurs are concerned about the repercussions of the strike.

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In an interview with Denis Lévesque, Éric’s restaurant owner, Eric Luxenberg, lamented the current situation.

He and his colleagues struggle to stock up on wine bottles as the most crucial period for their turn begins.

This issue comes at a very bad time, as restaurants and bars struggle to recover from COVID-19.

“You have to be strong to be a restaurant owner or run a bar today,” Eric Luxenberg stated.

“We’ve been waiting for holidays and office parties for two years. There we have a few, but what are we going to sell them for? Hot dogs and sausages? It’s crazy,” he adds.

The latter also admits that he rushed to SAQ with his truck in order to buy as many bottles of wine as possible.

“I tried to get a little of everything that was around to do my biggest three weeks of the year,” says the restaurateur.

Eric Luksenberg also points out that restaurants struggle to respect their wine list.

“There is nonsense. Instead of French wine, I buy Italian wine. I bought American wine. I bought everything I could,” says owner Chez Éric.

If he understands the demands of the SAQ workers, Mr Luksenberg is critical of the government’s inaction, of which he is calling for a special law.

He asks, “Should 800 employees hold our profession hostage, which includes between 20,000 and 30,000 employees in 15,000 restaurants that are half already bankrupt?”

The owner of the restaurant fears that some of his colleagues will break the law if the current situation continues.

“Everyone will throw themselves anywhere. We will take the bottles that we are not normally allowed to sell and we will withdraw the licenses,” predicts Eric Luxenberg.