September 7, 1988
50°

Vol. 51, No. 33
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lnteseot| Strike vote of 88%
roast. | Dacks BGGEU demands

& - J
oigo Backed with an 88-per-cent vote by its

members in favour of strike action, negotia-
tors for the B.C. Government Employees
Union were set to head-into a new round of
talks with the provincial government on
Wednesday. ;

The strong vote for strike action, taken at
a series of regional meetings around the
province in August, means the union now
has clout to back its goal of protecting
members’ jobs from privatization and elim-
inating poverty line wages, BCGEU repre-
sentative Sheila Fruman said.

“We are in a legal position to strike right
now. It’s in the government’s hands now,”
she said Tuesday.

“We have a new set of proposals on job
security that we hope will provide a vehicle
for a settlement,” Fruman said.

“It all depends on whether (Premier Bill)
Vander Zalm thinks a strike will be good for
him.”

One sign that the government may be
backing down is its decision to keep
government highways maintenance workers
on service in the Victoria-Saanich area past
the Sept. 1 deadline when the new private
contractor took over.

The move came after the union laid grie-
vances in connection with the government’s
attempts to coerce highways maintenance
employees to take jobs with the new, private
sector owners bidding for the service.

BCGEU president John Shields charged:
“Despite the fact that the central issue in
contract talks is job protection from privati-
zation, government representatives have
put inordinate and excessive pressure on
their employees in Duncan and Victoria to
quit their jobs.”

Shields noted that despite the govern-
ment’s campaign of “provocation” and
“intimidation,” 43 out of the 80 workers
decided to stay in government service.

see GOV'T page 8

| Giant headpiece caricaturing White Spot res-
_ taurants owner Peter Toigo, whose antics got
. his friend Premier Bill Vander Zalm into trou-
ble recently, dominates at demonstration by
| striking workers at Oakridge plaza in Van-
' couver, the site of the chain's head office,
Sept. 2. The headpiece worn by an entertainer
‘ drew appreciative laughs from the strikers
"| (inset), who sang along with songs that
| included ‘‘Toigo’s Restaurant.”” On a serious
note, End Legislated Poverty co-ordinator
Jean Swanson (next to headpiece) told the
crowd, “‘That many people work full time and
_ part time and still live in poverty is a national
_ scandal.’ Roger Crowther, vice-president of
‘the Canadian Association of Industrial,
Mechanical and Allied Workers, said the union
would not “negotiate poverty wages” such as
the company’s demand for a two-year freeze
ve || for new staff at the minimum wage level.
CAIMAW represents workers at 19 White
Spot restaurants, and is asking supporters to
boycott all outlets.

— page 5

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