Incentives key to newest
gov't training program

TONY WILSON will be the first
~ to tell you he’s had problems.

‘A series of work and job find-
ing programs over the years
. didn’t give him the stability or
portunity he needed.

But ‘Wilson says things are
much different now that he’s
been part of a new kind of
provincial government program.
“It’s called the Forest Worker
Development Program and was-
introduced last year.

oo Pve been through at least six

_ different courses. This is very dif-
+ ferent,’’ said ‘Wilson recently at a

“work site. off of Hwy16 between
‘Terrace and Prince Rupert.

_». What makes this program dif-
“ferent is its blend of training and
opportunity to carn money based

On productivity.

“The program has three phases
“and there’s a pay raise in ‘each
-One.

“Tt depends on productivity.

The mote productivity out of the

whole crew, the more wages there

are,” said Wilson.

He's referring to the third stage
~-of the program in which workers

act as and are treated as con-
~ tractors are when working for the
‘forest service.

» Contract work undertaken
- Tanges from silviculture to recrea-

tion improvements to protection.

_-The progression in wages gives
the program a sense of reality and

~4neentive, say two local provin-
cial officials involved in its ad-
ministration.

‘Before there was a flat rate
‘and. people’s skills were not
rising as fast as people would
have: liked,’’ says Pat Smith, a
forester with the Kalum forest
‘district.

«Now that there is an incentive,
we are seeming to get results.’’

: The first phase is treated as a

"training period and workers are
paid a flat rate.

Phase two is a bridging level

- and while workers still get a flat
“rate, it can increase based on per-
formance and productivity.
. Third phase pay is based entire-
- lyon productivity. an
In terms of how that fils: the
contracting world, workers get $8
“an-hour for the first phase and $9
“an hour (and as much as $12
depending upon productivity) for
the second phase. Third phase
pay could be as much as $500 a
week,
-There’s an expectation a worser
will perform to at least 50 per
' cent of a contract level in the

Major
player

THIS AREA is turning into a
major player in the provincial
government’s Forest Worker De-
velopment Program.
~ By the end of this fiscal year,
nearly $4 million will have been
spent in this area compared io the
-. $39.5. million budget set out for
the whole province.
*-For here, it’s meant jobs for ap-
proximately 100 people chosen
from a screening pool of 200
. people.
~The money comes from the so-
cial services ministry, the forest
service and the provincial govern-
‘ment’s new vehicle for jobs and
. development — BC 21.
~The social services ministry it-
self will spend $713,000 on train-
ing: programs covering Terrace,
Kitimat and Dease Lake this fis-
cal year.
“It’s put $400,000 into the train-
ing and bridging phase of the pro-
. gram here while the forest service
has put in $1.1 million.

“The nearly $2 million for the
‘contract phase of the program is
‘covered entirely by the forest ser-
vice, ”

PROSPECT OF contract work with the forest service beckons for Tony Wilson. He’s happy with the
training and incentives provided by the Forest Worker Development Program.

training phase, 75 per cent in the

bridging phase:and 90 per centin .

the third phase, ~

Finding the workers is the job
of social services ministry official
Ruby Huisman.

As opposed to earlier efforts,
this program screens applicants io
ensure that those who start have a
good chance of completing, she
said.

“There is a physical fitness
component, One reality of being

on income assistance is thal if

you are out of work, you are out ...

of shape,’? Huisman adds.

Smith called the physical Hiness
aspect a kind of boot camp, held
the first few weeks of the pro-
gram’s spring 1993 introduction.

“FE rank this very high,” says
Huisman who has - experience
with such programs dating back
to 1979. “It suits the clients’
needs who have a feel for the out-
doors.’’

She adds the ability to earn as
much as $500 a week is a real in- *
centive to those: who’ would -
receive that much a month on in-
come assistance.

For Tony Wilson, the program
has opened the possibility up of
applying for his own forestry
contracis.

“It’s given me a boost. On wel-
fare it’s nothing. You don’t feel
as good as when you’re working
for it,’’ he says.

OUT I IN the bush for an inspection of a forest worker development program project are Ruby Huis-
man, centre, from the social services ministry and the forest service's Pat Smith, right. With them is
Al Larsen, the foreman on the project.

_ Welfare rules tighten up

“JT’S GOING to be more difficult
-, for people to collect welfare.
Measures announced last week
‘by the provincial government are
expected to save a minimum $20
“million a year,
“The second timc a person
Teporis a lost or stolen cheque, for
~ instancé, the ministry will pay
-. rent directly.
~ ~sReciplents will also receive
vouchers or a Ilmited amount of
cash.
a ‘Reporting of lost or stolen che-
“. qués increase in Terrace when-

oe ever the carnival is in town, indi-

cated a social services ministry
report released last year,

The ministry js also working
with the RCMP to develop a
screening program to help deter
fraud and abuse.

Single parents now are not con-
sidered employable until their
youngest child reaches the age of

That policy was introduced by
the provincial government in
1992,

But now, a single parent will be
considered eligible for emplay-

ment when ithe youngest child

reaches the age of 12,

Single employable people and
childless couples will have to fill
out job search report cards in
pilot projects coveriag four arcas
of the province.

In another pilot project covering
the same four areas, employable

singles and childless couples are

being required to pick up their
cheques in person Feb. 23.

That’s to verify identities and
residences of people and {i's ex-
pected to produce savings. ,

Despite stories of welfare fraud
and abuse, social services offi-

cials say the problem isn’ t as
great in the north as it is in the
cities.

According to ministry statistics
for Terrace as of Oct. 1993, there
were 1,078 people collecting in-
come assistance who are consid-
ered: employable...

In the Kitlmat-Stikine regional
district, 8.3 per cent of men and
10.4 per cent of women aged 19
to 64 were on income assistance
as of June 1993.

The provincial average was 8,5
per cent for men and 8.8 per cent
for women for the same time

cidentally, is doing a good job!

The rerrace Standard, Wednesday, January 26, 1994 -’ AS

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD
The Mail Bag

More on chipper layoffs

Dear Sir:

This letter is to clear up some facts about layofis we have made at
the whole log chipper in New Hazelton, (The Terrace Standard, Jan.
5, 1994),

The layoffs were a business decision made entirely by our compa-
ny based on current reality. For three years now we have had
numerous seasonal layoffs due to various factors including insuffi-
cient supplies of pulp jogs, inventory adjustments by customers, a
fire at the plant and poor pulp markets.

In cach of the past three years these Jayolls have been in excess of
three months. These layoffs have been both costly and frustrating ta
the employees and ourselves.

The excessive downtime is really nol any one’s fault and particu-
larly nol Repap’s, It fs the result first and foremost of intense com-
petition in world pulp markets; second, the fact that the timber pro-
file in the Hazelton area is changing and less pulp is being genera-
ted as the company moves onto higher slopes; and third that initia-
tives taken by sawmills in the Hazelton area have allowed those
mills to merchandise and manufacture lumber out of a grade of logs
that used to be considered pulp.

As harsh as the layoffs may seem they are only a portion of ac-
tions we are taking to reduce our costs of doing business and pro-
vide more stable employment to the people we have retained.

Also just clarification of fats. We began operating the whole log
chipper when it was commissioned in June of 1988. That is five and
a half years ago. It is interesting to me that any employee could
have seven years seniority in this business,

We trust this clarifies any misunderstanding in the facts as pre-
sented.

Yours truly,
Hamblin Woodchips Ltd.,
Bruce Hamblin, President,
Lance Hamblin, Secretary

Too soft a cushion
Dear Sir:

Tread with interest ICBC'’s explanation for rate increases over the
past several years. Increasing reserves is a logical business move.

1 just wonder if we can look forward to a decrease in insurance
tales when a “‘cushion’’ is established. I think it more likely that
ICBC will firmly place their bottom (line) on the ‘‘cushion’’ and
build a bigger bureaucracy to support it.

Yours truly,

Bruce 'Toms,
Terrace, B.C,

‘Master postal plan.
Dear Sir:

RE: Mary Anne Skil!’s letter of Jan.5 complaining about the ser-
vice in the local post office.

She should send a copy of her letter to the post office bureaucrats
in Ottawa,

They will be pleased to hear that their master plan is working,
which is to get the general public so fed up that they will be glad to
see postal work sub-contracted out (i.e. our local Co-op) which, in-

Bill Kennedy,
ae Terrace,’ BC,

THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ

The Start

Fewer hospital beds

THERE ARE going to be fewer beds at the hospital, It
now has 69 beds. But in March, the number is being cut
to 52.

This is being done to save money. The more beds there
are, the more money it costs.

The hospital is also trying to cut back on the number of
patients. It saves money if fewer people stay there over
night. ’

So people here can expect there to be more day
SUIgETY. And patients can expect to be sent home sooner

‘than in the old days.

This will be the third year the hospital is not going to
get a budget increase. But if things po the right way, no
more jobs will be lost there.

Steelhead killed

THERE ARE too many steelhead being caught on the
Copper River. It means there could be a complete fish-
ing ban there.

Conservation officer Ken Fujino says some people ar are
using wrong bait or aren’t following the rules.

He estimates 80 per cent of the fishermen are ‘breaking
the rules on purpose, Already some parts of the Copper
River are closed.

If you want to learn more, you can call the fisheries
branch in Smithers. The phone number is 847-7303.

And if you want to learn more about the rules, you can
call the local conservation office. The phone number { Is
638-3279.

Ken Fujino said some people are confused about the
tules.

ALL THAT 8 snow last week made tor tricky driving. This larga
truck was one of many vohicles not able to stay on the road,