The Province

(British Columbia)

03 January 2000

Pub workers don respirators

Masked waiter Dave Kinaschuk (left) lights patron Aimee Thomsen's cigarette at Fred's Uptown Tavern.
(Ric Ernst, The Province)

Mary Vallis, Staff Reporter

Deep beneath Granville Street in Vancouver, in a cavernous pub under the Hotel Dakota, bartenders are mixing drinks wearing paper suits and high-tech respirators.

Welcome to Fred's Uptown Tavern, where ashtrays are as abundant as bar stools and the servers look like post-apocalyptic survivors.

The new staff uniforms are owner Vance Campbell's answer to the Workers Compensation Board's stringent Jan. 1 smoking rules, aimed at protecting workers from exposure to second-hand smoke.

Campbell, a vocal opponent of the new regulations and vice-president of the B.C. Cabaret Association, said he's found a way to comply with the regulations without banning smoking. The paper suits and face masks ensure his employees will inhale less than two cigarettes per year in a smoking environment -- adequate health protection, he said.

"You get more than that coughing up exhaust at a bus stop," he said.

"It's clear to us the agenda isn't workers' health

. . . the real agenda is a war between governments and the tobacco companies. We as an industry cannot get caught in the middle of that tug of war."

Lighting up a cigarette, patron Brad Mitchell said the B.C. government is taking too much liberty with local entrepreneurs. "The government comes out smelling like a rose, but it's the businesses who suffer," said Mitchell.

Pulling down his mask to talk, tavern manager Geoff Menu said his boss has found an effective way to please the clientele and workers. "'Smoke your brains out' is our new motto," Menu said. "I think legally we're OK. The loophole is the bylaw is to protect staff."

Mike Mueller, a pub employee, said the government should spend its time cracking down on major polluters instead. "We have a 1-800 snitch line -- isn't that like communism? Showing up and snitching on them?" said Mueller, who quit smoking a few weeks ago. "I thought this was a democracy."

Late last year, Campbell helped organize a hospitality-industry pitch for better-ventilated workplaces instead of the strict smoking crackdown. The WCB turned down their request, calling the proposal "unscientific."