TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2006

RAV line labour dispute goes international - Costa Rican Workers Federation supports Costa Rican tunnel workers on RAV line in their effort to unionize and win first contract; Federation to send representatives from Costa Rica to Vancouver and urges workers to support Labourers Union in strike vote

VANCOUVER – The labour dispute involving foreign tunnel workers on the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit Canada Line has gone international.

The Costa Rican Workers Federation (C.T.R.N.) has sent a letter in Spanish to all Costa Rican and Latin American workers on the RAV project urging them to support the Labourers Union Local 1611 in their fight for a first contract, including voting yes on an upcoming strike vote.

And Gilbert Brown-Young, Secretary General of the Federation, has told the 40 foreign workers that the Federation is sending representatives to Vancouver as soon as possible to meet with the workers and support their efforts to negotiate a first contract with the SELI Canada/SNC Lavalin joint venture building the line.

“This international solidarity is excellent news for the Costa Rican, Colombian and Ecuadorian workers on the Canada Line,” said Wayne Peppard, Executive Director of the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council (BCYT).

“We are very pleased that the Costa Rican Workers Federation has taken up the cause of these workers and we look forward to welcoming them to Vancouver very soon,” Peppard said.

Brown-Young’s letter tells the workers: “That the salaries that SELI is offering to the migrant workers are below the minimum paid for the industrial sector in Canada. That the Costa Ricans and Latin Americans are receiving less than what Canadian and Europeans are earning in the same industrial sector.”

“As Costa Ricans and Latin Americans, you deserve the same labour conditions and salaries established in Canada for heavy industrial work,” the letter continues. “Don't be fooled by the company. They are able to pay Canadian rates. SELI and their partner SNC Lavalin won the contract bid for this job for $138 million CDN. This bid affords them the ability to pay Canadian rates.” The letter is online at the Federation website: http://www.rerumnovarum.or.cr/

Peppard said a strike vote planned by the Labourers Union Local 1611 is on hold while the union pursues unfair labour practice charges in which it alleges employer intimidation and other tactics.

For more information: Call Wayne Peppard, BCYT at 604-291-9020 or cell 778-388-0014 or Bill Tieleman, West Star Communications, at cell 778-896-0964 or 604-844-7827. For background, go to www.bcbuildingtrades.org

For further information contact 

the BCYT-BCTC office:  604-291-9020

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