June 5, 1998
FLETCHER'S SEEKS TO LIMIT PICKETS
Greg Whalley, vice-president of corporate affairs, said the company felt compelled to go to the Labor Relations Board after a security guard on a bus was injured by a ball bearing that was shot through a window. The ball bearing is believed to have been fired from a slingshot, he said. The guard was treated at hospital for minor injuries and released. The incident followed several acts of vandalism to company vehicles, Whalley said, including one in which the windshield of a bus was shattered while it was moving. "We're prepared to accept that there are emotions on a picket line," Whalley said. "But we do not believe society condones the use of violence, intimidation, threats and vandalism to achieve your ends. And that's why we applied for an injunction." Wayne Covey, bargaining agent for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, Local 1118, said he didn't know what Whalley was talking about. He said he had no knowledge of a ball bearing being fired into a bus or any other act of vandalism. But he conceded tempers have grown hot on the picket line, which is manned by up to 200 or more strikers. "When people try to run you over, you react," Covey said. "It's not a Sunday school. It's a picket line." Of the injunction, he said: "We don't believe it's fair. They've got replacement workers in there taking our jobs. We should have a right to have our say about that." No date has been set yet for the labor board hearing. About 660 workers went on strike after they were locked out at the plant on May 4. Next Story: STERILIZATION DEAL WILL SAVE MONEY Previous Story: DAY MAY SEEK PUBLIC INPUT ON FUTURE OF TREASURY BRANCH
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