The Saskatchewan Government Employees Union describes the proof of vaccination requirement at liquor stores as put unecessary stress on retail liquor store workers and creates a double standard in the industry.

The SGEU says the province had previously listed liquor stores as exempt from proof-of-vaccination requirements. Then, on September 29, liquor store operators were sent an email informing them that shoppers would need to provide proof of full vaccination, or a recent negative COVID-19 test and it left stores only two days to prepare to meet the requirement.

The SGEU says after a year and a half of the pandemic there is no excuse for what it calls ill-prepared knee jerk decision making in public health.

Spokesperson Sharon Freiss says retail workers in liquor stores are facing harassment by customers who didn’t think they would need to provide proof of vaccination at those locations.

And she says this also tells all unvaccinated people to shop at one particular type of store because it is only stand-alone stores impacted by the vaccine passport.