CITY 3
A city cop pays it forward
CRIME 5
Shots fired into city home
COMMUNITY 11
Matsuri festival in photos FOR THE BEST LOCAL
COVERAGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2017
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
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LABOUR
CITY GARDEN
Union and company cut a deal
It’s a labour of love By Cornelia Naylor
Contentious labour dispute ends in a sixyear-deal with raises and benefit guarantees
cnaylor@burnabynow.com
By Tereza Verenca
tverenca@burnabynow.com
The labour dispute between Pacific Blue Cross and CUPE 1816 came to an end Sunday night after both sides ratified a six-year, collective agreement with the help of mediator Vince Ready. “I’m really happy,” union president Beth Miller told the NOW on Monday morning. “It was a real struggle, but I think it helped with the pressure we were putting on them.” CUPE 1816 represents more than 600 employees who work for the Burnaby-based insurance provider. The union has been without a contract since last year.The labour dispute began in early July when both sides were at an impasse on retiree benefits and wages. Miller said when it comes to wages, the new agreement will see a 1.5 per cent increase from August 2016 to July 31, 2017 (retroactive), a 1.75 per cent increase in year two, and a two per cent increase each of the following four years. The two parties also agreed to set up a joint benefits trust, where Pacific Blue Cross will contribute 75 per cent of the premium and 25 per cent will be paid by the retirees. “The trust will, at a minimum, maintain current benefit levels as set out in the 2014-2016 collective agreement,” Miller said, adding Pacific Blue Cross will cover the costs to set up the trust. The terms of the trust will be Continued on page 4
GIANT ZUCCHINIS: Longtime Burnaby resident Franco Martorana poses with a pair of Sicilian zucchinis hanging in his front yard. Born in Sicily, Martorana came to Canada in 1975 and has been working on his current Graveley Street garden for 26 years. Every so often, the local tile setter will let a couple of his zucchinis keep growing so he can harvest them for seeds. PHOTO CORNELIA NAYLOR
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If you had to find Franco Martorana’s house because you, say, needed to take a photo of him with one of his giant zucchinis, you certainly can’t miss it. Both sides of his driveway are an explosion of green, with a latesummer bounty of tomatoes, grapes, zucchinis, eggplant, figs and the like, hanging heavily on the boughs. “I like it, to pass time,” says the 72-year-old self-employed tile setter. “When I do my garden, most of the time I do it when I come home from work. I have supper, I come out here, relax.” Currently, a pair of five-foot zucchinis hanging from a tall wooden frame are his most eyecatching crop. They’re Sicilian Zucchinis, and Martorana’s favourite way to eat them is boiled with a little olive oil and black pepper. They’re delicious – and healthy, he says. “It’s incredible; it’s like medicine.” The two big zucchinis still left in Martorana’s garden won’t be eaten, however. He’s letting them grow and will dry them later for seeds. The original seeds came from his native Sicily. Martorana immigrated to Canada in 1975 for work, and his current garden has been a 26-year labour of love, providing the freshest food for him and his family. “It feels good,” he says of his time in the garden. “I’m proud when the seeds start to come out.”
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