Strike Ends At Vancouver Newspapers

By: (AP) Vancouver's two daily newspapers were going back on newsstands Monday following resolution of a contract dispute that shut down the printing presses for nearly three weeks.

The vote by 626 workers Friday was 71.2% to accept a three-year contract with Pacific Newspaper Group, owner of the broadsheet Vancouver Sun and the tabloid Province, which have a combined circulation of about 370,000.

"That's a pretty fair-sized market, so with those two papers out it's been difficult for advertisers to reach the marketplace they want to reach," company spokesman Don MacLachlan said. "Consumers have had only limited sources of the information they need."

Everyone at the papers has an "overwhelming eagerness to get back to work and tell the stories," MacLachlan added.

The shutdown began July 2 after company officials said members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers' Union Local 2000 went out on strike and union leaders said workers were locked out.

It was the first major labor dispute since CanWest Global Communications Inc. acquired the Southam chain of papers that included Pacific Newspaper Group in 2000. The Vancouver dailies provide the largest stream of revenue from the former Southam papers.

The deal gives the more than 900 employees wage increases of 2.5%, 2.75%, and 2.5% in a deal that runs until Nov. 30, 2004.

Under the contract which expired last fall, the top rate for a six-year reporter was $1,278.93 a week. That contract was preceded by a two-hour strike.

The last significant shutdown was an eight-day strike-lockout in 1994.