THE SiX-screen Park and Tilford Cineplex Odeon and the three-screen Park Royal Famous Players theatres are without union projectionists but
remain open for business. Management locked out the projectionists Wednesday as part of an escalating labor dispute over wages. The West Van-

couver Odeon theatre is one of eight B.C. theatres to remain closed indefinitely.

UNIONIZED PROJECTIONISTS LOCKED OUT

Labor dispute causes closure
of West Van Odeon cinemas

ONE OF three North Shore cinema complexes has been
shut down indefinitely as a result of a labor dispute between
film projectionists and their employers.

Unionized projectionists, repre-
sented by International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees
(IATSE) and Moving Picture
Machine Operators local 348, were
jointly locked out at 42 3. C.
theatres Wednesday by the
Cineplex Odeon Corp. and
Famous Players Inc.

On the North Shore, the six-
screen Park and Tilford Cineplex
Odeon and three-screen Park
Royal Famous Players theatres will
be staffed by management and
non-union workers and remain
open for business.

But the three-screen West Van-
couver Odeon theatre on Marine
Drive will remain closed during the
labor dispute.

Said John Nixon, company joint
bargaining committee spokesman,
“We had to make the decision that
to maintain the operation, we can
operate only 34 of the 42
theatres.’”’

By MICHAEL BECKER
News Reporter

Disagreement over what a pro-
jectionist should be earning is at
the core of the dispute.

At the low end of the present
wage scale under existing con-
tracts, a projectionist working at a
single-screen Famous Players
theatre on weekdays earns $24.53
an hour.

A projectionist working a six-
screen Cineplex Odeon theatre on
a Sunday puils in $59.93 per hour.
A B.C. projectionist working an
average 19 to 23 hours a week can
eam approximately 360,000 an-
nually.

A company comparison of
wages earned by projectionists at
five-screen theatres in the Van-
couver area, Edmonton and
Toronto shows that a local projec-
tionist earns $41.81 per hour

WV Council to discuss revamped

From page 2

when noi everything was smiles.”

Although a municipal zoning
oylaw for the site allows the total
height for the building to be 200
feet, Howard said the tallest of the
two towers being proposed will
reach 252 feet, which was a move
that did not sit well with West
Vancouver resident Marion
Crowhurst.

“1 think it’s astounding that
council guidelines that lay down
the maximum height for a building
be 200 feet have been breached to

252 feet,’* Crowhurst told the
News.
**It’s insulting for them

(Newcorp) to talk about reducing
the average height of a building by
five feet, when we’re talking about
buildings over 200 feet tall,’’
Crowhurst said. ‘tAnd they talk
about it with a straight face as if
citizens of West Vancouver are
supposed to be impressed.’’

But another West Vancouver
resident, Howard Bieh!, said he
liked the revised version uf the
twin tower plan better than the
original one.

“I think it’s a good idea,’’ he
said. ‘‘The improvement is putting
the townhouses at the base, that
cuts the height. I think they’ve
done a really good job, the other
(design) wasn’t feasible.’’

Earlier this year the B.C.
Supreme Court ordered West Van-
couver District Council to honor
a 99-year lease agreement with
Newcorp for a twin tower devel-
opment on the site, which until
recently was occupied by the Royal
Pontiac Buick car dealership.

But at the suggestion of Ald.
Carol Ann Reynolds, council voted
last month to obtain a legal review
of the court ruling. That legal
analysis was given to Reynolds on
Tuesday.

She maintained that council
should have held the public infor-
mation meeting and waited for a
legal review of the court decision
before council’s Advisory Design
Panel, along with a team of ar-
chitect advisors, approved the lat-
est design.

She added that council should
deny Newcorp rezoning and build-
ing permits for the twin towers
project because that was the

weekdays versus $25.76 per week-
day hour in Edmonton and $20.21
per hour in Toronto.

But management, faced with a
shrinking movie-going audience
and escalating operating costs, is
after wage concessions from the
union. This week’s lockout follows
a breakdown in contract negotia-
tions.

Said Nixon, ‘‘The wages are
grossly out of line. We haven’t in-
dicated specifically what percent-
age we want to roll tack, but we
want a significant rollback. We’d
like to get a collective agreement.”

But according to IATSE B.C.
Projectionists’ Union local 348
president Khemraj Daulat, the
onus to return to the bargaining
table is on the company.

An Industrial Relations Council
ruling found that the theatre com-
panies contravened a section of the
Industrial Relations Act by giving
exclusive bargaining authority to a
bargaining committee rather than a
person.

“*We can’t go back to bargain
because the employers have ref-

towers Oct. 23

message voters had sent to council
in last year’s referendum.

““We (council) should honor the
vote to withdraw from this,”
Reynolds said.

As an alternative she suggested
council move the West Vancouver
Public Library to the Taylor Way
site along with ‘‘some arts facili-
ties’* while giving the oresent
library site at 1950 Marine Drive to
Newcorp, which Reynolds added,
is presently zoned to accommodate
high-rise development.

But Ald. Rod Day, chairman of
council’s planning committee, said
he did not see anything wrong with
having council’s Advisory Design
Panel approve the latest plan be-
fore holding a public information
meeting.

“It’s routine to go with the
design panel. We wanted their
opinion before we went public...
we wanted to make sure the design
was worth discussing publicly,’’
said Day.

Council is expected to discuss
the rezoning and development
permit for the twin towers project
on Oct. 23.

3 - Friday, October 23, 1989 - North Shore News

Off-ramp
opposition
prompts
NV City
Council

to call
public
meeting

A PETITION protesting the
construction of a highway
off-ramp from the new $22
million Lonsdale and Upper
Levels Highway interchange

NEWS cholo Mike ‘Waketiatd near a city elementary
P school has encouraged
North Vancouver City

Council to call a_ public

meeting to discuss alter-

native traffic plans for the
area.

By CORINNE BJORGE
Contributing Writer

Judy Poole, a representative for
the petitioners, appeared before
council last week and said she was
worried that increased traffic from
the off-ramp, which will connect
with Chesterfield Avenue on the
south side of the highway, would
endanger schoo! children travelling
to and from Lonsdale Elementary
School. Chesterfield runs down the
eastern boundary of the school.

Poole also said she was unhappy
with options presented by the city
engineer.

used to name that: spokesperson so
that talks can vesume,”’ Daulat
said.

According to Daulat, manage-
ment is looking ‘or a 40 per cent
wage rollback and a five-;ear con-

tract with no wage increases.

Said Daulat, ‘‘By demanding a
40 per cent rollback, they are in
effect asking us to work at 1979
wages in i994. We're asking the

public, ‘Is this reasonable?’”’

The union president said current
projectionists’ wages are not ex-

cessive.

““We work fous or five hours a
day and we have to ean eight
hours’ wages in that tims,’’ he
said. ‘We're prepared to take an
electrician’s wage (union rate:
$22.53 an hour) if we can work

eight hours.”’

While Daulat charges that the
company is out to bust the projec-
tionists’ union, the BCGEU, which
represents candy clerks and ticket-
takers at 16 theatres, including
Park Royal’s Famous Players, will

take a strike vote Saturday.

Auto................-.19
Classified Ads..........25
Editorial Page.......... 6
Home & Garden.........11
Mailbox ............... 7
What's Going On........18

WEATHER

Friday, cloudy with showers.
Saturday, mostly cloudy with
a chance of showers. Highs
near 13°C.

Second Class Registration Number 3885

The off-ramp issue was original-
ly raised in a Sept. 22 News story
that chronicled safety concerns
from area parents and Lonsdale
school officials.

But 2 report from city engineer
Chuck Gale that came before
council Tuesday night continued to
offer only two options to council:
either open or close the off-ramp.

Gale’s report said the risk to
children would not increase with
the construction of an off-ramp.

“If parents or the school district
anticipate a risk to the children
they should be encouraged to con-
sider becoming involved in the
‘Safe Route to School’ program,
crossing guards, etc.,’’ the report
stated. ‘‘It is our opinion that the
city cannot and should not assume
responsibility for children using
the streets.”

The report also stated that
**...there is no technical support
for the position that the traffic
volumes....will increase
significantly as 2 result of the con-
nection to the ofi-ramp.”’

The off-ramp was initially sug-
gested as a method to alleviate
traffic problems in the area, and
has received support from the pro-
vincial highways ministry’s staff
and the RCMP, according to
Gale’s report.

Gale said the highways ministry
would, at counci!l’s request, close
the off-ramp connection between
Chesterfield Avenue and St.
Georges Avenue.

But city council members said
they wanted more options to con-
sider than just whether to approve
the off-ramp.

“Pm very disappointed in the
(engineer's) report. | don’t see any
alternative recommendations. I
personally felt there was a concern
of safety to the children,” said
Ald. John Braithwaite.

Ald. Frank Morris said city staff
could bring forward alternatives
such as pedestrian overpasses, or
alternate street blockings.

Council will decide Monday on
the date, time and place of the
public meeting, and will request
attendance by the provincial high-
ways minister and concerned resi-
dents,