Co-Op Supermarket default of a loan the workers' organisation lent to the venture.

The Credit Union was also a drag on the BIU's bottom line.

The BIU lost $276,215 in the financial year ended September 30, 1997 compared to a surplus of $3,407 recorded in the previous year.

While the union's revenues increased 17 percent over the 1996 financial year from a boost in workers' dues, write-off of the bad loan helped boost expenses 31 percent. At the time the Co-Op went into liquidation after closing last year, the supermarket owed the BIU about $483,000 according to a Supreme Court judge. About $300,000 was a direct loan to the Co-Op. The rest was for rent of the BIU building on Union Street and for purchases from the union's gas station.

The BIU reported in its latest financial statement that the organisation absorbed a loss of $283,000 due to the write-off of the loan.

The BIU took in $2.4 million in revenues in the financial year ended September 1997, a shortfall of about $300,000 from the $2.7 million in expenses the organisation spent during the same period.

In the previous financial year to September, 1996 the organisation took in $2.1 million and spent about the same.

"No significant influences are expected from the demise of the Co-Op in 1996,'' the BIU stated in its newsletter The Workers Voice. "Other impacts on costs were a rise of $322,000 in administration and $35,000 in wages and salaries.'' Repairs and maintenance of $120,000, a gift to support the Credit Union, and uncollected rent of $71,000 from the Co-Op Supermarket contributed to the increase in administrative costs.

The Credit Union loan was given to improve the equity position.

On a positive note the BIU collected about $2 million in members' dues in the 1997 financial year, 29 percent more than in 1996. The gain offset reduced income from the gas station and losses from Liberty Theatre.

The union's gas station had revenue of about $56,000, a decline of 67 percent.

The gas station was closed for most of the financial year due to extensive renovations. The cinema lost $65,632, about $13,000 less than it lost the previous financial year.

"It should also be noted that the losses incurred by Liberty include rent to the BIU of $72,000 annually,'' the union stated. "Hence, when Liberty's finances are reviewed on a cash flow basis, it has a positive cash flow return.'' The union's total assets were $8.1 million at the end of the 1997 financial year, representing a book value of capital assets of $6.9 million and an assortment of other assets. Net worth declined by about $100,000 over 1996.

Members equity was $6.6 million. The union calculates that after allowance for debt obligations, BIU members owned 81 percent of their business, or about $1,320 per member.

"The current year is already showing evidence of members' surplus,'' the BIU concludes its report. "Barring an act of God, year-end September 1998 should show a marked improvement over the previous year.''