This is from Eugene Plawiuk's page at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5202/canada.html. WORKERS SERVE UP MCSTRIKE VOTE Keith Fraser, Staff Reporter The Province December 9, 1998 Workers at the McDonald's in Squamish, the first employees at the giant restaurant chain to unionize in North America, have voted in favour of strike action. Members of the Canadian Auto Workers voted 61-per-cent in favor of job action. The membership then applied to have mediation resume and will return to the bargaining table next week. CAW local president Denise Kellehan said the union has been in negotiations for more than a month with mediator Jim Breckenridge and wants to speed up the pace of talks on a first contract. "We've had 12 bargaining sessions and we feel we need to start moving things along a little more quickly, and therefore we've taken a strike vote," she said. "We need them to address key issues." The main issues are scheduling by seniority and wages. The average wage for the 83 workers is about $7.50 an hour and the union is seeking a "modest" wage hike but wouldn't be more specific. There are no plans to issue 72-hour strike notice at the moment, said Kellehan, and "no plans for picketing at the current time." The union was certified in August. Since then a certification bid at another McDonald's in Kelowna was withdrawn when the union didn't get the requisite 55-per-cent approval vote. McDonald's could not be reached. Workers at the Denny's restaurant at Davie and Thurlow in Vancouver met yesterday to discuss proposals for their first contract. Last week the 48 employees became what CAW believes are the first Denny's workers in the world to win a certification bid. "We're very excited about getting those negotiations under way," said Kellehan. Seniority, wages and benefits will be the main issues, she added. for info, contact Jim Barden at (604) 898-1587 or (604) 892-4492
