September 7, 1988 50°

Vol. 51, No. 33 €ai>

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.

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