A popular vintage and muscle car show at Coquitlam’s Hard Rock Casino was cancelled on Saturday, due to an ongoing labour dispute.
About 400 workers with the BC Government Employees Union (BCGEU) have been striking at the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation-owned facility since May.
Saturday was meant to be the fifth annual Ultimate Car Show at the Coquitlam casino. In previous years, it has featured more than 300 cars, along with live entertainment and a charity pancake breakfast.
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Car show host Rick Franceour said the event simply couldn’t go ahead behind a picket line.
“We made the decision that they didn’t know when the end was going to be near and instead of getting ourselves into an awkward situation we decided to cancel it for this year,” he said.
Along with disappointed car fans, Franceour said the cancellation means they wern’t able to raise money for their charity partner.
“We volunteer so we’re happy to be there, we raise money for a foundation, usually a couple grand we raise and we do it because we love shows and we love cars.”
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He said the event will return in 2019, once the labour dispute is over.
BCGEU at the Hard Rock unionized in 2016, and have been negotiating a first collective agreement since January 2017.
Workers say they are striking over wages and benefits.
A tentative agreement was reached between the employer and the union in late June, but workers failed to ratify it.
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