Strike at Chaparral Mobile Homes

USW Union Local 1423 President Bruce Gardner says wage is the issue for this strike.

"The hang-up seems to be in the wages.  We're looking at trying to get a time-based fifth tier system that kicks in after five years for wages.  And that seems to really be where the hang-up is...We're just trying to go to a straight time-based system with the fifth-tier being the top wage.  And by that amount of time being in the workforce, you should be entitled to that wage."

But apparently Chaparral doesn't agree.  Gardner tells us, "They want some qualifications around it.  But people that currently meet the qualifications on the fourth-tier won't meet the qualifications on the fifth-tier, so it makes it unattainable."

Meanwhile, the Chief Negotiator for Chaparral Homes, Mohammed Domah, says they have created an expectation with their customers for providing good quality work, and you need qualified employees to do so.

He tells us, "Obviously, the issue of just choosing employees just based on seniority alone without being qualified makes no sense to the employer, nor its customers."

Domah also says with the unstable housing market, the company simploy cannot afford what the union is asking for:

"The union's expectation is that the small employer pays the neighbourhood 15-30 percent above its current wage, something the employer can't do.  It will certainly bankrupt them."

Domah says they brought a 3-5 percent pay increase to the table, but that was rejected.

Pickets went up Wednesday morning.  Bruce Gardner says it's been a peaceful strike with no bitterness across the picketlines.

Denise Wong/Jessica Samuels - Astral Media Radio News (Kelowna)

Workers on strike outside Chaparral