PARK AND TILFORD CLOSURE Distillery workers will battle PARK AND TILFORD employees went to Vic- toria Wednesday to press the provincial gov- ernment to change excise tax law in an effort to save North Vancouver’s Park and _ Tilford WL cca LY x S SS “NEWS photo Terry Peters SCENES LIKE this won't be repeated after May 31, when Park and Tiiford plans to shut down its bottling operation in North Vancouver. The union is fighting the closure. Distillery. MARK HAMILTON Katherine Bratsberg, one of those who made the trip, said the employees met with such Social Credit cabinet ministers as James Hewitt (Consumer and Corporate Affairs) and Don Phillips (industry), North Vancover MLA Jack Davis and op- position members Colin Gabelman and Chris D’Arcy. The employees got some results, Bratsberg said, with a committment from. the ministers to examine the situation. As well Gabelman raised the issue in the House during question period after meeting with the group. ‘*‘We reckon there should be some sort of concessions (to the distilling industry) to keep the industry in the province,’ Bratsberg said. While the major concern expressed after the an- noucement of the closing has been over the fate of the gardens, more than 50 employees stand to lose their jobs when bottling opera- tions cease at the end of May. Some of those have been with the company for all or Hho paynp Al3 - Friday, April 6, 1984 - North Shore News major parts of the 20 years it has been in operation and they’ve seen the labor force climb to a high of 130 employees. Now, caught in a financial squeeze that’s being blamed on the effects of government over-taxation and the changing drinking habits of the Canadian public, they face a sudden end to their careers. Sales drop Some of the facts behind the situation: e In 1983, the distilling business in Canada saw sales drop 6.3 per cent from the previous year as the switch from hard lquor to light beer and wine continued. ¢ Since September of 1981, when governments began indexing the increases in excise taxes on liquor, the number of distillery employees has dropped by 2,000. At the same time operations have fallen to the point where distilleries are operating at only 50 per cent of capacity. ¢ A major price war has -broken out on the hard li- quor front — a war virtually unnoticed because distillers are not allowed to advertise price. While such major industries as Seagrams and Hiram Walker, Canada’s two largest, can afford to drop prices in attempts to attract more buyers, smaller distilleries often don’t have that option. The biggest beef the in- dustry has is government taxation. According to a series of advertisements run by the Distillers of Canada, the cost of a ‘‘typical’’ bottle of rye whiskey is $13.50. (That’s based on the price of a bottle in Ontario in August of 1983). Of that, the distiller receives $2.37, again based on the Ontario price, with over $11 going directly to government. Park and Tilford employees, in a_ letter teleased April 2 that starts ‘*Dear Fellow British Columbians’’, says the Situation is exacerbated in this province by the pro- vincial government’s pro- tective attitude to the wine industry while distilleries are left to fend for themselves. According to the letter, the employees, through the Brewers Union, are asking the provincial and federal governments to intervene in the closing ‘‘and take the necessary steps to ensure the continued operation of this and other viable B.C. distilleries”’. you’tt LOVE WHAT'S NEW! eae) sundal ryter ately d ' Oomateh all YORU Vustretivee Inleather available in grey or bone STEPPING RIGHT INTO SPRING Ins GG GoFgeovs. | esigned shoe from NOGUERON | , one of the many stuaniog new styles in the spring/summer 44