Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, Deoember 1, 1993, Page 13 MIRACLE F000 MART Workers fear strike will be long!i ByMark Reesor coming eout ef the sanie ware- with a great market share. They tainlypepare t oback te the rNEAS HrE Mrcle Food Mart emploee-oue(and) they're getting it bought it and seemed te terpedo taley time hy ae.» fear their two-we-l strike from the same suppliers. it... A&P reportedly wants to close againet the U.S.-owned grocery «We were their main competi- "I liken themn personally te an at least 20 Miracle stores over I A L store chain will drag on or a in, se some of the feeling is animal that eats itsyon.Te thnxttoetreyasan Ion time. that they bought us tedo usin.» seemed te, have a ht on for shed 500 fulI-time and 200 part- Miracle's 6,500 employees UFCWZ local 175 spokelneson Miracle Food Mart because of its tmeepoes ~xm riooo msveis walked out Nov. 18 wnen talks between their union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and A&P Canada Ltd. broke down. Miracle and Dominion are divisions of A&P. The company>s 63 Ontario Miracle stores, including two in Whitby, have been closed and workers have set un an informa- tien picket at the Trhickson Road South A&P store. "If we're net back by the mid- dle of Deoember, the Christmas business will be lest and it will be a long one," says Phil Pisani, Picet apain at the Miracle store at Witbys Town Plaza on ing more money with us being on strike because of what we (Mira- cle) were losing and net paying wages., an gement says Miracle has lest $65 million, Pisani says. An A&P spekesperson wasn't avail- able fer comment. "The union came up with a package that would give $20 million back, but they said that wasn't enough,» says Pisani. Miracle's losing meney because of "total mismanagement,» charges Pisani. UA&P will corne eut with a better ad than we ve got... even .theugh (products) are charge. "Our contention is if they knew how te run a business, they wouldn't be unprofitabIe... Three years ago it was a booming chain Instead of 'nurturing the thing, they just pushed it Off te the side.» Hobbs says ne talks are cur- rently planned, but uwere cer- Fuli-time Miracle cashiers earn $16.16 an heur, part-time cashiers $13.79 and meat cutters $18.10 under the current con- tract. STRIKING WORKERSp icket the Dundas information pioket line has been set up at the Street West (Town Plaza Miracle Food Mart Thickson Road South A&P store -- Miracle store. Both Whftby Miracl stores have been and Dominion are divisions of A&P. closed as a resuft of the strike and an Pht by Mark Reesor, Whltby Free Press Airport order a big project for Brooktin flrm Broeklin Concrete Products Ltd. employees have in recent weeks been working on the lar- gest single preject in the coin- pay40-year hist d ground structures fer thie new runway at Pearson International Airport. Each of the structures is made of pre-cast concrete and heavily reinforced with steel. A total of 52 pieces will be made once the contract is completed, each piece weighing from 17 te 44 tonnes. Weve neyer clone castings this big before,» said John McCey, vice president of ope- rations for Brooklin Concrete. The casting is actually being done just outside the plant, and each of the pieces is being leaded on trucks by crane. McCoy says the structures are "large communication manholes and power manholes.» About 51 miles of plastic pipe will go through the structures. "They (structures) have te be heavy enough 'chat a 747 can land on then in an emergency BREA~l .~ i Reg.1.89 Lmt3laes per customer L with this coupon Odfer expires Tuesday December 7,19 GIC STUCKSI PIZZA STICKS 191611 Reg. 6/1.99 Limit 3 dozen per customer l wth this coupon fer expires Tuesday Decemberl7 - - ý OEN SUN'Y Buns Masier 1380 H'opkins Street Whitby 666- 1177 situation," said McCoy Brooklin Concrete is the lar- Vest manufacturer of patio stones in North America, end largest manufacturer of septic tanks in Ontario. And McCoy says the Pearson centract "puts us in another league. We've neyer been con- sidered for this type of werk before." But Brooklin Concrete was one of the international cempanies which submitted tenders for the project, and "We beat them on the numbers,» says McCoy. Winter is usually when the workforce at Broeklin Concrete is reduced by abeut haîf, fron the summer staff of 65 te 32. "Different parts of' the plant shut down due te seasonal changes,» says McCoy. But the Pearson contract meant six or seven employees continued te work abeut another six weeks. McCey says his company aise put in tenders for another eight projects at Pearson, and "There's a good chance we could get another project." BROOKLIN CONCRETE workers load a 25-ton communi- cation manhole they've made for the new runway. at Pearson International Airport. The company is produciiig 520of the large underground structures, the largest contract in its 40-year history. Pht yM Pesr YI FePes