January 31, 2007

Associations

Union distances itself from drug incident

Jean Sorensen

correspondent

VANCOUVER

The BC Ironworker’s union has launched an internal investigation following the arrest of its business manager on international drug trafficking charges. The union is distancing itself from and offering no assistance to its business manager currently sitting in a U.S. jail facing international drug trafficking charges. “This was not union business,” says Dave Beatty, president of Ironworkers Local 97.

Beatty was commenting on the arrest of Perley Holmes, 50, by the U.S. Border Patrol January 18 after officers apprehended two individuals who had crossed the U.S.-Canada border with two packsacks. The packsacks allegedly contained 136 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $4.3 million. Border patrols were tipped when an electronic border alarm indicating a vehicle had crossed on a road near Grand Forks, in B.C. Kootenay region.

The tire tracks in the snow led border patrol agents to a rural home, where the vehicle’s tracks turned around. Fresh tracks from two individuals were followed and two men with packsacks containing the illegal drugs were subsequently found hiding in bushes and apprehended.

Beatty said individuals within the union are “shocked” at hearing of the alleged complaints and arrest of the union man who has been with Local 97 for nine years. “This is totally out of character,” Beatty said of the father of eight who is being held in Slocan County jail without bail. Under the U.S. system, a criminal complaint can be laid against an individual, but they need to be evaluated in court to ensure their validity. The criminal complaint is the first step towards a grand jury indictment in the U.S. If indicted, Holmes will be charged with importing and distributing cocaine, charges that carry up to a 10 year prison term in the U.S.

The union president also said he did not believe that Holmes would qualify for any work compensation while awaiting trial. A press release issued by the union stated that although there was no connection to the union in the incident, the union’s constitution requires an internal investigation by external auditors to ensure its financial integrity.

Holmes, recently, was in the news for protesting the hiring of foreign workers for the Olympic projects in B.C. He was involved in a group that led the ironworker’s protest in downtown Vancouver during a short protest in September 2006.

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