Vancouver: Industrial inquiry commissioner Stephen Kelleher has been appointed by b.c.’s Ministry of Labour to help resolve the nine-month dispute between the 60-member b.c. Projectionists Union and cinema operators.

Kelleher – who is a lawyer and veteran mediator – hopes to have either an agreement between the union and the employer group, comprising the b.c. theatre operations of Famous Players and Cineplex Odeon, or recommendations by Aug. 12, though the process deadline will likely be extended.

Any recommendations by Kelleher to new b.c. Labour Minister Joan Smallwood would not be binding, however.

For the unions, though, Kelleher’s appointment is the only light in a bleak landscape.

Union president Damon Faulkner alleges that the employer group is trying to bankrupt the b.c. union by dragging out negotiations. There has been little communication between the two groups during the protracted dispute.

Then there are the public relations gaffes. At a rally of solidarity July 27 at the doors of cinemas along Vancouver’s Granville Street Theatre Row, projectionists were joined by members from the b.c. Federation of Labour, Teamsters, cupe and iwa – a situation that devolved into shoving matches with movie patrons. While Faulkner maintains that the aggressive rally-goers were not members of his local, the employers secured an injunction from b.c. Supreme Court on Aug. 3 to limit the number of picketers at the Capital Six and Granville Cinemas to six at each door.

The employers have also withdrawn an earlier contract offer – which sought to reduce projectionists’ wages 60% over three years – in anticipation members of Ontario’s projectionist union (IATSE Local 173) will ratify a new contract. The Ontario contract, which went to a ratification vote Aug. 4, will reduce wages further and remove from the union’s jurisdiction smaller multiplex theatres of six screens or fewer, says the b.c. union rep.

Faulkner believes that will be a new contract offered to b.c. projectionists when the employers return to the table.

John Nixon, spokesman for the employer group, continues to deny the employers are trying to bust the union. He claims the union has not wanted to negotiate. The previous offer was withdrawn while negotiations took place in Alberta and Ontario with other projectionist unions.

Nixon confirms that b.c.’s proposal was richer than what is being negotiated in Ontario.

‘We’re going to cooperate fully with Mr. Kelleher,’ says Nixon, adding that the process will at the least bring two new proposals to the table where now there is none. ‘But we aren’t optimistic. This won’t be any quick fix because the parties are really far apart.’