UNION COMMITTEE Pushing for future for NV shipbuilders JOHN ROONEY “earns’’ $890 a month. A big chunk of that — $525 — goes for rent on the two-bedroom place that houses him, his wife and their three children. By MARK HAMILTON Come July, he faces the prospect of going on =the welfare rolls when his UIC runs Out. The unemployed com- “I’m in better shape than mittee has started to do some,’ says Rooney. ‘Most something Earlier this of the guys have been out tor much longer than that.’’ Rooney considers himself more fortunate than others in the shipbuilding industry because last July, for one month, he was called back to work. Over the past two vears, Rooney estimates, he has put in four months on the job. As head of the ployed committee of local $06 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Rooney knows how bad the situation is for his fellow union members. The union represents carpenters and joiners employed ip the shipbuilding industry. Of the 761 members of the North Shore local, only 273 are currently month, the group went after a higher public profile with a demonstration outside unem- working “It's been that way for well over a year,’’ Says Rooney “A lot of our people are going on welfare for the first time in their lives *° erates Rooney estimates that about 6S per cent of those people faced with welfare are immigrants, marine carpenters trom England, Scotland and -Furope, highly trained to carry out jobs that, in Canada, no longer Appear tO Cust Savs Rooney “They're gelling opretty frustrated They want somebody to do somethump 77 AYLORMOTIVE MacMillan Bloedel’s cor- porate headquarters tn Vancouver At issue was Mac-Blo’s decision to have three bulk carrier ships built in Japan. “We looked at the overall situation ain the Lower Mainland and we found that 85 per cent of the total shipbuilding workforce 15 unemployed,’’ says Rooney, the fact explaining what demonstration. led to ‘The PLUNGE 0 & NEWS photos Eric | Eggertson SCENES LIKE this are rare enough to have North Van- couver shipbuilders worried. Eighty-five per cent of ship- builders are unemployed says the head of a group that’s trying to do something about the grim situation. OUR 25TH YEAR PROFESSIONALLY SERVICING 10°S OF THOUSANDS OF SATISFIED CUSTOMERS YOUR COMPLETE BC AA APPROVED “50 BAY” CENTER TT | that Mac-Blo was having the ships built in Japan with &8§ per cent of the workers here out of work seemed a little ridiculous.’’ The demonstration a meeting between a Mac- Blo executive and repre- sentatives of some of the untons involved ain shipbuilding. “The ironic thing,’’ says Rooney, “1s that while the guy was sitting there saying that we sounded reasonable and that maybe we ftould work together, I had a newspaper clipping of an article that said B.C torest compames were Opposed to led to any government policy to force them to build ships here.”’ The base of the problem is the loss of shipbuilding contracts to a number of neo-industrial countries. Japan was first to start stealing shipbuilding con- tracts from Western countries, offering lower production prices through an industry Rooney says was subsidized with millions and millions of government dollars Lately even Japan has faced increasing competition from such countries as Taiwan and Brazil Rooney concedes that it may be more profitable for a company to have tts ships See page A27 A25 - Wednesday, May 23, 1984 - North Shore News The gift that cures homesickness lg wr 7 . e Give the News Our Circulation Department Wednesday, Friday, anywhere in the world will, mail the and Sunday News lf you have family or triends who once tived on the North Shore and are now living elsewhere in Canada or somewhere around the world, we can keep them in touch with their old neighborhood. One Year Mail Subscription 6 months, $55; 3 months, $28° Your Gift Subscription can be taken over the phone with easy payment by cheque, VISA, or MasterCard 980-7081 Otfice Hours Mon - Fri Gam - 9pm Tee Wace oo METH asm WERT WOE sunday. news north shore news neem aaa — -_ me meron “One you Duy ts @ gambte QUALITY WORKMANSHIP ©* TRUSTWORTHY SERVICE © ALL GUARANTEED | wooo the odds against you is to ta, | precy a & AAN Spection and have i (hecho try the THE AU LOMOTIVE SPECIALISTS _ >A In aped thon © stra on Mobile laspection Service Qualifted field Techntclans tm each Chor computers and teamed mec hanes ¢ aoc heh out Many with 20 to 40 Years Capertence over 200 potential troubte spots Or for as tittle as $15 we. strogly io spect (he areas you CO most OO afNed abou . -t @ 98 e Aulumath: Crannmdnatoun Ad sie e we nether set parts nor de cespeanes cca a ¢ cvana pode te qeneral suvee Brae. ot Pooper tons honestly cgobrasad Batwe oan estinnate th. { lon Sar a Wheel frame altqomeot & tal crt frm aarry thre wer fd wrong a © Obit se geate EO BO ec batanen Vos thre Presa Peay or TEs preaype bee ae hay yaaa Bal Ypm ' a Vater thavg , reer ers RRO LeS Terry me . a Carmetenmy cans arranyggedd BCAA Vehicle Irspection Service (ALL US FORMAN APPOINTMENT 86/73 4681 278 West 1st Avenue at Crowe. Vancouver VISA AND) MASTERCARD ACCEPTED 989 74995 JavCORMOTIVE” . ..; AVRIE BM Ecre Fa voiovnwe