FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2007

Veteran ex-RCMP officer and forensic expert on altered documents to testify in Labour Relations Board hearing 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 14, 2007; Authenticity of contracts of RAV-Canada Line foreign workers to be questioned

VANCOUVER – A former veteran RCMP officer and forensic expert on altered documents will testify Monday at a Labour Relations Board hearing regarding the authenticity of employment contracts signed by foreign workers employed in RAV-Canada Line construction by SELI Canada.

Kevin Blakely, legal counsel for the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union, Local 1611, which represents Canada Line workers from Costa Rica and other countries, said Friday that Don Gamble will give expert evidence at the hearing.

The hearing starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Labour Relations Board, Suite 600 – 1066 West Hastings in Vancouver.

Gamble has 36 years experience as a questioned document examiner in more than 3,500 individual cases involving over 90,000 exhibits. Gamble was previously head of the documents section of the RCMP forensics laboratory in Regina, Blakely said.

Blakely says the hearing is part of an ongoing dispute that began when the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council (BCYT) discovered last year that the workers were being paid less than minimum wages.

After their situation was made public, the Union claims their wages were increased in violation of the Labour Code. The Employer has relied on the disputed employment contracts to claim there was no Labour Code violation.

The Union is pursuing several legal and Human Rights complaints about the treatment of foreign workers.

For more information:

Contact Kevin Blakely at 604-437-0521 or Wayne Peppard - Executive Director, BCYT at 604-291-9020 or cell 778-388-0014 or Bill Tieleman, West Star Communications, at 604-844-7827 or cell 778-896-0964

For further information contact 

the BCYT-BCTC office:  604-291-9020

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