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Wildcat strike staged following dispute over refusal to deliver extra mail

FOUR NORTH Vancouver postal workers were suspended
without pay for one day on Wednesday after they staged a
wildcat strike and refused a Canada Post request to deliver

extra mail.

The wildcai strike affected only
North Vancouver and involved
only the four suspended workers,
said Canada Post spokesman Il-
ona Beiks.

Ray Andrews, North Vancouver
shop steward for the Canadian
Union of Postal Workers
(CUPW), and one of the four
postal workers suspended, said a
clause inthe union’s collective
agreement states that the extra
mail Canada Post wanted the four
to deliver is only delivered by the

By Surj Rattan
News Reporter

Crown corporation’s Priority Post
courier section.

“They just can’t arbitrarily say
we have to deliver this mail. We
have a clause in our collective
agreement.. There is a set system
by how we do our job,”’ said An-
drews.

Asked if he and the other three

WV District 45 claims
teacher demands would

cost more than $2.4M

CURRENT CONTRACT
demands by the West Van-
couver Teachers’ Associa-
tion (WVTA) would cost
over $2.4 million, according
to West Vancouver School
District 45 (W VSB).

By Kevin Gillies
and Surj Rattan

But the WVTA said the school
‘ board is misrepresenting the facts.

A Feb. 8: WVSB press release
claims that teacher demands for a
class-size restriction in the district
would cost the board $1,247,320
to pay for 21.4 additional teachers

44 They have
used data on
some worst-case
-scenai io basis to

“make an
exaggerated

statement. 79

_ WVTA president
‘ Wayne Rowley

“and $570,000 to acquire and equip
: 15 portable classrooms.

Teachers have rejected a con-
tract, proposal from the board that
offered a 1% pay raise retroactive
to:July 1, 1992, plus an immediate
lump-sum payment: of $400 per
‘teacher.

For the average teacher earning

‘approximately $50,000. annually, |

this. would amount to an im-
‘mediate payment of approximately
$700, with the balance of the raise
‘to’ be paid over the remaining
“months of the school year.
|. The contract proposal offered
teachers the right~ to ‘renegotiate
‘salaries on July 1, 1993,

The resulting annual increase to
the district in terms of ‘salaries,
benefits and experience increments

‘would be $511,200. :
‘The release claims that begin-
‘ning July 1, 1993, the average

West Vancouver teacher would:
_Teceive a salary of $50,655 plus’

benefits of $8,656 for a total of
“$59,311,

jdirect
‘classroom areas like
‘ administrators healthy allowances,

~ WEST VANCOUVER
SCHOOL BOARD

Teachers with a masters degree
and 10 years’ experience would
receive a salary of $61,077 plus
benefits of $10,383 for a total of
$71,460.

District 45 teachers work 192
days per year; five of those days
are professional, or non-teaching,
days.

Each additional increase of one
percentage point to teachers’
salaries would cost the district
$153,000.

The release also claims that with
District 45’s loss of its special
purpose grant of $602,000 from
the provincial government, it will
be left with $1‘. illion less in
funding than under the previous
arrangement.

“We simply do not believe that
the parents and taxpayers of West
Vancouver would support us
sacrificing the quality and variety

.. of. student programs simply to

avoid the occasional addition of
one or (wo students to a class or
to fund inflationary salary in-
creases for teachers,’ board
chairman Peter Bradshaw said. |

At the WVSB’s Feb. 8 meeting,
Bradshaw said the board receives
approximately 100 letters annually
from teachers requesting work in
the district.

But WVTA president . Wayne
Rowley said salaries are not the
issue in the labor dispute.

“This school board does, not
want to discuss and resolve the in-
structional issues which are upper
most in teachers’ minds. Teachers
want to deliver a quality program
to their students,’’ said Rowley.

He added that class-size lan-
guage should be included in a new
collective agreement.

And Rowley said the school
board is misrepresenting the costs
on class-size limits.

. “Their claim. that it would take
an extra 21.4 teachers and 15 por-
tables is patently ridiculous.

“They have used data on some
worst-case scenario basis to make
an .exaggerated . statement. We
would like to discuss this at the
bargaining table, but up until now
they have refused to do so,’’ said
Rowley.

' He added that the school board

does not understand that its job is -

to provide resources for the in-
struction of students and not to
resources into non-
“providing

lap-top computers, car allowances
and professional development
retreats to Whistler and. Las
Vegas.’”’

postal workers were suspended
with pay, Andrews replied: ‘*With
pay? From Canada Post? You
mean a paid holiday? No way.”’

But Beiks said ihe Priority Post
courier service is growing and that
when there are extra packages to
deliver, Canada Post has some of
its ‘‘motorized’’ letter carriers
deliver the packages.

She added tiiat motorized letter
carriers use vehicles to deliver the
mail and that the four North
Vancouver postal workers
suspended oi: Wednesday are al!
motorized letter carriers.

Beiks said the system of having
motorized letter carriers deliver
some Priority Post mail is in place

Friday, February 12, 1993 - North Shore News - 3

for

across Canada and that the four
North Vancouver postal workers
were the only ones who refused to
deliver the mail on Wednesday.

“Tt was an illegal work stop-
page. We just told them to go
home for the day, that they were
suspended.

“Three other routes did go out
and deliver that mail, If they have
a problem with delivering it, then
there are ways and means in the
collective agreement to dispute
it,’’ said Beiks.

She added that on Wednesday
Canada Post management staff

delivered the Priority Post mail -

that..the: four North Vancouver
postal workers refused to handle.

actions

Beiks said that the four
employees were back at work on
Thursday.

The incident was the third labor
dispute, and second wildcat strike,
to hit North Vancouver this week:
@ On Monday, North Vancouver
bus drivers staged a two-hour
wildcat strike over the firing by
BC Transit of a driver,

@ Also on Monday, employees of -
the Royal Canadian Legion and
Army and Navy clubs on the
North Shore were locked out by
their employers over the issue of
wage increases,

Meanwhile, a strike. by union-
ized North Shore Taxi employees
has entered into its third month.

NEWS photo Mike Waketlold

MAPLEWOOD FARM'S John Grods feeds their latest addition “Lucky” a bottle of milk. The bull’
calf was born on Chinese New Year's Day (Saturday, Jan. 23) and is on view with his mother
Daisy every day (except Paondsy) from 10a.m.to4 p.m. —

Info access should cover local gov ts, school boards.

RECOMMENDATIONS PRESENTED
improvements
freedom of information legislation propose to, extend rules °

committee investigating

to cover local public bodies.

The provincial government
plans te proclaim the initial ver-
sion of Bill 50, the Freedom of
information and Protection of
Privacy Act, in October.

The information and privacy
legislation covers more than 200
provincial ministries, boards, cor-
porations, commissions and agen-
cies.

But it does not address the flow
of information from local public
bodies such as municipalities and
school boards.

Burnaby NDP MLA Barry
Jones, a member of the Cabi-
net-Caucus Committee on Infor-
mation and Privacy who prepared
the report for consideration by
fellow committee members,
believes a more open flow of in-
formation from public bodies will
alleviate a public loss of faith in
the ability of public officials to
serve the public interest.

The amended and extended lIeg-
islation, as envisioned within the
report, would eventually cover
municipalities, school -boards,
hospital boards, police boards,
universities, colleges and _ self-
governing professional bodies.

Jones said the amending legisla-
tien will be drafted and introduc-

recently to a
to’ provincial

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

ed in the spring.

He anticipates that the amended
act will be proclaimed by October
1994, with a May 1995 proclama-
tion date for the legislation to
cover self-governing professions.

Basic information and privacy
rights addressed within Bill 50 as
it now stands include:

@ the public right of access to re-
cords;
@ the individual right of access

to, and the right to request the '

correction of, personal informa-

_ tion;

e specified exceptions to rights of
access;. ,

@the prevention of the
unauthorized collection, use or
disclosure of personal information .
by public bodies;

® the provision of an “indepen-
dent review of: decisions made
under the act.

Highlights of the recommenda-
tions made for an extension of
freedom of information and
privacy rights as outlined in the
Jones report include calls to:

@ examine limitations placed on
topics that can, be considered in-
camera; . ,
@ ensure that confidential’-police
informants remain protected. from
disclosure; !

@ enable ‘heads of public bodies
the right to refuse to confirm or

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