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News 985-2131 Classified 9R6-6222

LAFARGE WORKERS “STILL LOCKED OUT

a

Teamsters |

MEMBE RSHIP- OF the inion local representing, Teamsters
locked out of the North Shore LaFarge Concrete ready-mix
plant have voted 70 per cent: -in favor of rejecting. the com-.

piiny’ ’s final contract offer.

Lin the vote. which was held
‘Tuesday afternoon, 62. of the 89
‘Local, 213° Teamsters:who cast
-hallots voted to feject the one-year

j contract,
The lockout affects 04 La ‘arge.

Teamsters. it “three Lower
Mainland concrete. ready-mix
plants and has also. halted: opera-
tions: at two LaFarge gravel yards
and one concrete production pla C
Approximately V5" LaPavge
employees” are affected by the

Jockout at the company’ s North *

‘Shore facility: |

LaFarge spokesman Rod
Ainsworth said Wednesday the
company was disappointed with

1 the contract rejection, but happy -.

“that 30 per cent of union member-

ship had seen fit to vote for the

contract. . ra
He'said the offer would conse-

“Quently . be withdrawn and the -

company would assess its options

and present a néw offer sometime
, Oext week. “

But Ainsworth’ said the Objective

of the new offer would be the same:
fas the one rejected: "to make the

company’ more competitive with
the non-union sector.’

| The ceight Lower Mainland
non-union concrete ready-mix
companies, he said, ‘must have
been dancing in the streets” afier
hearing |the . outcome of Tuesday" s
vote. a

“But Local 213 business agent Don
Doerksen said in a previous News
story that LaFarge’s rejected offer

. would have .sliced $4. per hour

from’ the Teamsters benefit
_ package. by eliminating (wo statu-.
“tory holidays, reducing wages for

- employees who work: statutory.

holidays and incredsing qualifica-

tion time for eniployce vavations.:

On’ Monday, “Teamster Jawyers
withdrew ar: application for a B.C.
Supreme Court injunction block-
ing. the vote after they were
satisfied “the gontract offer being

‘voted on, would not be invalidated

asa tesult of theilockoats: °
The vote. had been ordered

“March 23 by the Industrial Rela-

tions Ccuncil.

Doerksen said a paragraph:
the contract stated that the offer
would only remain: open until a
lockout or strike occurs and,
because the ‘vote was being taken
during the current lockout, the
union was afraid its. membership
would not know which contract it
was voting on. -

But Ainsworth reiterated Wed-
nesday that the paragraph was:in

the contract’s preamble and had ”

nothing to do with the offer,
He added that - the union's

statement that the contract would,
wesult in a $4-per-hour loss.to indi-..

vidual Teamsters’ benefit packages
was “absolute nonsense. We have |
estimated, using a@ worst-case

. scenario, that it would be closer to
°$1.58.per hour and ‘probably 76

cents per hour.”’
The rejected offer also called for

_ a/40-cent per hour wage rollback,
which Ainsworth said would bring -
LaFarge’s Teamsters in line with -
their counterparts working, at the

company’s unionized competitors
elsewhere in the Lower Mainland.
Teamsters, who, earned © an
average wage of $17.50.per hour
under their old LaFarge contract,
were locked out March 112 >