(Following is a copy of a letter sent to B.C. Premier John Horgan regarding the United Steelworkers/Western Forest Products strike)
I am writing to ask you when the current labour dispute will end? You stated back in December, 2019 that it would end in a couple of days. It has now been better than a month since you made that statement. You also promised relief for contractors caught in the middle of this dispute. Please advise in what form this relief is in.
Your party has refused to involve itself in this dispute, stating you prefer to allow free and collective bargaining to take its course. At the same time you have imposed a maximum increase that the public sector unions can expect to receive. Is this not hypocrisy?
The current dispute is now in month seven. Your passivity in this issue is causing hardship to many of the workers who elected you into office. Today, I am laying off six unionized employees adding to the 20 already laid off.
I cannot fathom a party that prides themselves as representing the working class can let this dispute continue. I can only hope that come election time those affected will remember your party’s inaction.
Daryl Jones, president,
Jones Marine Group Ltd.,
Chemainus