BC Place workers vote to strike
Posted Oct 3, 2011 11:27:45 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC Place workers have voted 89 per cent in favour of job action. The BCGEU now has 90-days to discuss if it wants to serve 72-hour strike notice.
The strike vote took place last week. It was organized after contract talks with PavCo ended last month. There are roughly 600 workers affected whose duties include event maintenance, security, hosting, first aid and skilled trades. They have been without a contract since March.
The union’s Karen Tankard says they want to use this move as leverage to get the employer back to negotiations. “Our members don’t want to go on strike, we want a fair collective agreement. We want to go to back to the bargaining table and we hope that with the strike mandate the employer will see that we’re serious about getting a deal and coming back to the table as quickly as possible.”
She adds that the main issue has always been job security. Union president Darryl Walker says workers won’t accept concessions, contracting out of downgrading jobs from full-time to part-time.
The employees are not unionized employees of Centerplate, the food service contractor at BC Place.
News1130 was the first to bring you the story of problems at the stadium following Friday’s re-opening. Many fans complained of long line-ups, overflowing toilets and concessions that ran out of food and beer.
PavCo CEO David Podmore, who oversaw the building’s $563-million makeover, said that glitches were expected on opening night. He also confirmed that roughly 160 workers didn’t show up to work to for Centerplate.
One employee quit in the middle of the shift on Friday because it was a “gong show.” “I quit simply because… it was so stressful and I felt so embarrassed. It was actually a traumatic experience.”
BC Place GM Howard Crosley admitted that many of the staff members weren’t properly trained because they were only allowed in the stadium a couple of weeks before opening night.
