THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2003

VANCOUVER…. The organization representing over 35,000 workers in the B.C. construction industry has joined in solidarity with striking workers at BC Ferries. The Building and Construction Trades Council is especially disturbed at the denigration of the Labour Relations Board as a result of the dispute.

“It’s a sad day for the free collective bargaining,” lamented Wayne Peppard, Executive Director of the BCYT-BCTC. “Democracy has been dealt a blow in the name of government interference,” Peppard said.

“As soon as both parties in this dispute had arrived at an agreement on service levels, BC Labour Minister, Graham Bruce, stepped in to demand an immediate return to work by union members. The Labour Minister’s action has demeaned the role of the LRB and made a farce of collective bargaining,” according to Peppard.

“Construction workers, like all British Columbians, depend on BC Ferries as a critical transportation link, but when the government ignores the judicial system and imposes its own will, we all lose,” Peppard said.

“We support the Ferry workers in their bid to exercise their right to negotiate with their employers without interference by the government. Now that the government has stepped in, the workers are at the whim of their employers,” Peppard observed.

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For further information contact Wayne Peppard at 604-916-0027 (cellular)

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For further information contact 

the BCYT-BCTC office:  604-291-9020

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