Vancouver: The labor dispute between the 66-member B.C. Projectionists union (IATSE Local 348) and the exhibition companies Famous Players and Cineplex Odeon escalated Dec. 5.

The union says nine projectionists at Famous Players’ Metropolis 10-plex in Burnaby, Guildford 12-plex in Surrey and Capital Six in Victoria have been locked out. A Famous Players’ representative says the workers are on strike.

At press time, the dispute had not expanded beyond the three Famous Players facilities or to Cineplex operations. Movie patrons have not yet been affected by canceled screenings.

The latest developments – in what could be a protracted dispute – stem from job action in which the projectionists refused to run advertisements during the trailers that precede a film’s screening.

The companies demanded the projectionists run the ads or leave. They left and erected the picket lines.

A Dec. 7 meditation meeting netted no agreement. At last word, no new meetings had been scheduled between the two sides and the date of the lrb hearing into the replacement workers issue was unknown.