The labor strife that Steve Lewis foresaw came to fruition today. The outgoing message at Empire Merchants, one of the area’s larger liquor distributors, says, “Due to a union strike, we are working on a modified basis and are unable to take orders at this time.” An employee at another top distributor, Southern Wine & Spirits, refused to tell us whether it had been affected by the strike (which seems to involve sales reps as well as truckers), but a source says that it’s “industry-wide.” Not only might this affect supply at your local pub, but — listen up, socialities — it may also put a damper on the season’s open bars. We’ll wait to see how this develops.