Striking Sun-Rype workers say a security guard nearly drove into them as they followed a company truck this week.
The three workers were in separate vehicles as they drove behind a B-Train truck carrying a load of apples off the property Monday afternoon. A guard hired to monitor the picket line pursued them in a GMC Yukon, they said.
“He cut off all three of us,” said Jason English, who‘s been picketing since Nov. 6. “He passed me on Gordon in a school zone at high speed and slammed on his brakes.
“He was trying so hard for me to rear-end him . . . He tried to squeeze between us.”
The truck stopped at a building near Spiers and Ward roads in South Kelowna. When the workers got out of the vehicles, the guard videotaped them, English said. They picketed for a while and then returned to the Sun-Rype plant.
“We called the cops and told them where the (Yukon) was. The police helicopter flew over and circled a few times and then left,” he said.
Sun-Rype wouldn‘t comment on the incident Wednesday. The company sent a news release acknowledging it had hired a security firm and is “committed to maintaining safety and security both on and off the picket line.”
Tensions are escalating now that 260 unionized workers have entered their third week of picketing. A court injunction has forbidden picketers from obstructing trucks as they leave the Ethel Street property, but they‘re still hostile toward the contracted drivers.
“We‘re cat-calling, but we‘re not enticing violence,” said Kevin Davies, a 31-year employee who sits on the bargaining committee. “The security guards are paid by Sun-Rype to create problems . . . They‘re thugs.”
The workers‘ trust in the company has all but evaporated.
They say the company has contracted out more than a dozen jobs to other locations recently, and they‘re worried more Kelowna jobs will disappear.
Morale is “very, very bad” in the plant, said Davies. Fifty-two non-union workers have left since new management took over the operation two years ago, he said.
“We‘ve given our loyalty to the company, but the company doesn‘t show loyalty to us,” Davies said. “It‘s corporate greed. That‘s what it‘s all about.”
Meanwhile, the Okanagan‘s hot job market is stealing away striking workers.
Many have taken jobs at Wal-Mart and Tim Hortons. Millwrights and electricians are working out of town. A carpenter is now helping build the new floating bridge. A forklift operator says he‘ll work full-time at West Arm Truck Lines if the strike continues past Christmas.
The company may be preparing to shut down the juice and snack factory for good, said shop steward Charles Parkhurst.
“This has been a source of stable jobs for 60 years, and it‘s good for the community,” he said.
“Pay attention to what‘s going on at Sun-Rype. There‘s a very evil presence in one of your long-term businesses.”
Fruit growers would suffer if the plant does close because they‘d have to haul their culls to the dump instead of earning up to $100 a ton for juice, said Ted Hall, a 32-year employee.
“Farmers built this place,” he said.
Workers want to resolve the issues so they can sign a new collective agreement, Davies said. But if the company wants to send jobs elsewhere, workers will be striking for a long time.
“We want to make Sun-Rype prosperous for all concerned – shareholders, workers and staff. We do like working at Sun-Rype. This has been our life,” he said.
