Editor:
Before retirement, I spent 25 years in labour relations with several organizations and in many positions.
For a period I worked in advocacy at the B.C. Government Employees Union headquarters and the District of Sechelt was part of my caseload. Not once did the union refer a grievance to arbitration, a sign of mature and stable labour relations.
There is now a strike. Strikes do not just happen. Ninety-five per cent of contracts are settled in talks. Strikes happen when there are honest disagreements or when one party loses sight of the goal. The law requires parties bargain in good faith with the objective of reaching a collective agreement.
The employer has dismissed his own responsibility and pretended there was no early call for talks. I have watched as the employer denied he knew of an offer to assist the people of Sechelt with tax clerks. The employer has misinformed the public on the issues. It appears the employer does not appreciate his legal responsibility to bargain a contract.
From the information available, the strike was provoked. The central issues in the public realm are the toxicity in the workplace and an attempt to alter a non-monetary scheduling arrangement. The failure to return to bargaining and to deny reasonable offers made by the union leads to the conclusion that the employer is actually prolonging the strike.
It makes me shake my head that this same political leadership is busy "attracting" business. Their actions reinforce the view that the general atmosphere in Sechelt is unstable and unpredictable. This is the exact opposite of the conditions preferred by investors. Unfortunately, the negativity of the current council harms all of us, residents or not.
Paul Johnston, Roberts Creek
