One of the owners of a Kamloops nightclub and a retail cannabis store says the BCGEU’s pause on job action comes in the nick of time.

Calling it “a very good day,” Dino Bernardo, the owner of The Commodore nightclub and Fiore Fresco cannabis, tell NL News he was anticipating to have to close down and lay off employees at his cannabis store as the shelves were getting bare.

“What we’re hoping is that whatever the BCGEU and the government have agreed on, we hope there’s going to be some supplemental ability to do some extra orders and to help get our stores replenished,” he said.

“We still have a little bit in stock but I know there’s a lot of stores in B.C. that are completely out of stock and have had to close their doors. I think this week would have [also] been the week that we would have really started to struggle to find liquor.”

Speaking in Coquitlam, Premier John Horgan said he was happy to see progress three week’s after the BCGEU began job action.

“The picket lines are coming down and that is great news for the hospitality sector in particular but it is also great news for all British Columbians,” he said. “This will be beginning of a template for further negotiations with other critical employees that service British Columbians [like] nurses, teachers.”

While the picket lines at the four liquor distribution warehouses are being lifted, there are some logistics to be settle before these facilities in Richmond, Victoria, Delta, and Kamloops can open again, according to Ian Tostensen of the Restaurant and Food Services Association.

“It’s going to probably take a couple days to get it all sorted out,” he said. “Product could start flowing by the end of the week – certainly by the end of next week – and then we’ll start to see the whole refilling of the pipeline.”

Tostensen also says there is a backlog of orders that were placed right before job action began that will need to be cleared first.

News that the BCGEU is pausing job action comes as British Columbia’s Alliance of Beverage Licensees reported that 80 per cent of the province’s liquor and hospitality industries were worried about the viability of their businesses.

Speaking on the NL Morning News, ABLE BC Executive Director, Jeff Guignard, says this data came about after a survey of 400 businesses in the hospitality sector across the province.

“We’re starting to see evidence that BC’s hospitality, liquor retail, and cannabis retail are bearing the brunt of that,” he said. “We’re not being alarmist here, we’re just reporting direct facts from what is happening on the ground.”

“Customers have noticed some product shortages but those product shortages are starting to translate into concerns about the viability to business as we start to look at reducing hours, closing some doors, and laying off staff. It is quite serious for us.”

It is not clear how close both sides are to a deal as both the BCGEU and the BC Public Service Agency will continue to maintain the media and member blackout that has been in place for the past week.

– With files from Brett Mineer and Jeff Andreas