Canada: Modern plating strike passes two years

Johan Boyden

VANCOUVER: At the corner of Quebec Street and East 5th Avenue, 
two middle-aged men stand in front of a run-down Vancouver auto 
plating plant. Their yellow sign ("On Strike, United 
Steelworkers' Local 2952") is bolted to the ground. "It walked 
off if we didn't do that", they say.

The sign is stained by many rains. It's been at this corner since 
January 24, 2002. That's when some 50 workers -- mostly 
immigrants from Eastern Europe -- refused to accept bad working 
conditions and company demands for concessions on wages and 
benefits, and took strike action against Modern Auto Plating Ltd. 
A handful of scab labourers, including the owner's family, now 
operate the plant.

Many people in the labour movement know of the Steelworkers' two 
years on the picket line. While not the oldest labour dispute in 
BC (CAW Local 3000 members, for example, have been locked out of 
the Vancouver Royal Diamond Casino since July 15, 2001) this 
strike is another case of owners trying to resolve the crisis in 
BC's economy by forcing people to worker hard with fewer benefits 
in dangerous places.

Looking up at the Modern Auto Plating building, you see the 
outside needs a new coat of paint. It's harder to view inside, 
beyond the blackened windows. Workers Compensation Board (WCB) 
officials also had a hard time looking in the plant.

In May 2003, the WCB charged the company for denying access to 
their inspectors. When inspectors did get in, they found 25 
violations of the Workers' Compensation Act.

"Containers of sulphuric acid", the WCB reported, "were observed 
to be stored underneath a shower facility in the plating room." 
The report was damning: "it became evident that this employer is 
not carrying out adequate workplace inspections", said the order.

The report cited a lack of first aid, exposure to chemicals, 
unsafe flooring conditions and the storing of car parts (bumpers) 
on the roof. A pile of bumpers are still up on the roof today.

"This is a strike over very basic issues", said Steelworkers' 
Western Canada Director Ken Neumann. "I have been in worksites in 
less developed areas of the world that are in better condition 
than this place."

From the corner where the strikers are standing, you can just see 
the gleaming towers of Vancouver's financial district. It's an 
interesting contrast.