Game on! The B.C. Lions will host the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday night at B.C. Place Stadium after unionized workers reached a new contract with the taxpayer-owned stadium.
Members of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union local 1703 voted 89 per cent last month to strike and served 72-hour notice last Wednesday. Negotiators for the union and B.C. Pavilion Corporation found common ground late Monday, according to BCGEU spokeswoman Karen Tankard.
The union, which represents ushers, security guards, first aid attendants and skilled tradespeople, returned to talks with PavCo representatives last week and opted not to disrupt the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Whitecaps' season finale on Oct. 22. Local 1703's demands included job security and anti-bullying language. Tankard did not have details of the settlement.
"Those were our main issues and the fact that we have concluded a successful agreement suggests we're happy with what they came back with," Tankard said.
Talks with mediator Mark Brown hit a snag before mid-September. The union was unhappy with the stadium hiring contractors to handle security and the Whitecaps' so-called "soccer curtain" to obscure empty seats on level 4.
The contract apparently does not include a pay raise because of a provincial wage freeze. Information and ratification meetings are to be announced for this weekend.
Tradespeople, building and event maintenance workers earn $29.59 per hour under the four-year contract that expired May 31. At the low-end, event housekeepers and hosts earn $13.99 per hour. New workers get 15 per cent less until their pay is topped-up with a retention bonus after achieving 100 hours.
Meanwhile, the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch is investigating after Budweiser cans littered B.C. Place during the Whitecaps' season finale.
Unopened containers of beer were sold to fans, despite provincial liquor regulations that require stadiums to pour booze into plastic or paper cups for fear that bottles and cans could become projectiles.
"There were no inspectors at the game on Saturday evening, although liquor inspectors have been at several events since the opening of the new B.C. Place," said a statement from the Public Safety and Solicitor General ministry attributed to LCLB general manager Karen Ayers.
"Liquor must be sold in disposable containers at stadiums; Liquor Control and Licensing Branch did not give B.C. Place temporary approval to serve beer without plastic cups."
LCLB is "contacting B.C. Place to investigate," but it would not comment further on the case, according to Ayers.
Taxpayer-owned B.C. Place is at risk of receiving a contravention notice, which could include a fine "if the branch believes this is the only way to achieve voluntary compliance by the licensee."
PavCo CEO Warren Buckley and stadium general manager Howard Crosley did not respond for comment.
B.C. Place ran afoul of civic and provincial regulators during the Aug. 15, 1998, Budweiser-sponsored American Bowl exhibition between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. Two beer-fuelled brawls erupted during the game, causing 37 people to be ejected and one person to be arrested.
