Vol. 2, Issue NO. 39 7

City intervenes |
to end strike

TERRACE — Work re-
sumed at the Terrace
RCMP building Sept. 18
after a 15-week strike by
carpenters and laborers.
' The dispute ended with
the signing of a standard
collective agreement be-
tween Hegge .Construc-
tion and the Terrace
locals of the United

Brotherhood of Car-

penters and Joiners and

the Tunnel and Rock

Workers.

Although the terms of
the settlement are iden-
tical to those the unions
have been demanding
throughout the lengthy
negotiations, the agree-
ment was only reached
after the City of Terrace
offered Hegge $20,000 in
compensation for the
higher union rate. The

. amount represents the
difference between the
wage the contractor was
offering workers and the
hourly rate which will be
paid under a standard
union agreement over
the remaining months re-
quired to complete the
project.

In a statement at the
Sept. 22 meeting of Ter-
race municipal council,
Mayor Jack Talstra in-
dicated that the city had
collected a windfall of
$33,744 in interest by in-

City
Engineer
resigns

TERRACE — Ralph
Keen, Terrace’s muni-
cipal engineer since 1982,
has decided to leave the
position effective Oct. 3.

Terrace council mem-
bers were notified of the
resignation at the Sept.
22 council meeting. In a
memorandum to coun-
cil, Clerk-Administrator
Bob Hallsor indicated
that Keen will be moving
to Chilliwack in order to
‘‘pursue other inter-
ests’’. Hallsor was given
approval to advertise the
vacant position under
the new title ‘Super-
intendent of Public
Works’’; no interim ap-
pointment was dis-
cussed, and Keen could
not be reached for com-
ment prior to press time.

‘Mains

vesting the money which
otherwise would have
been paid to Hegge as
work on the building
progressed. Of that
amount, $20,000 will be
given to the contractor,
about $8,000 was spent
on legal fees and
miscellaneous
connected with the settle-
ment, and $5,744 re-
in the city
treasury.

At the time the city got
involved in negotiations
with Hegge, the labor

dispute was threatening

to drag on for an in-
definite period of time.
The project began with
the hiring of several local
carpenters and laborers.

‘During May the site was

certified as a union job
by the Labor Relations
Board, and after brief
and inconclusive nego-
tiations a strike was
called. A series of ap-
peals and counteractions
went through the LRB
office in Vancouver,
culminating in a decision
which upheld the union
certification but prevent-
ed the unions from nego-
tiating wages. The union
appealed that decision,
and secondary negotia-
tions between Hegge and
the city began Aug. 29.
Talstra stated that the
offer Hegge eventually
accepted was the second
offer made by the city.

Although the settle-
ment appéars to be a
reasonable solution to an
awkward situation, at
least one member of
council remains dissatis-
fied with the course of
events, Ald. George

expenses .

ward”? through consulta-
tions with the project ar-
chitect. The offer was
refused, and the contract
went to Hegge. Clark
pointed out that he
would not have favored
paying an extra $125,000
to award the contract to
a local company, but he
expressed the belief that
a reasonable compro-
mise could have been
reached.

At the time tenders for
the project were being

continued on page 2

Legislative Library,
Parliament Buildings,
Victoria, B.C.

V8V 1X4

50 CENTS

Back on the job

Work resumed on Terrace’s new RCMP building last week after a 15-week strike by
carpenters and laborers. The settlement between general contractor Hagge Construction

and the dissatisfied unions was aided by the intervention of Terrace municipal council.

Forest ministry gets
‘major policy analysis ©

“A recent: joint” an-
‘nouncement by Premier
‘Bill Vander Zalm and

Minister of Lands and:

Forests Jack Kempf
launched a review of
forest management prac-
tices in B.C. The timing
of the announcement has
come under critical fire
from several quarters
because it. will include
analysis of the notorious
stumpage system, the
rating scale used by the
government to determine
how much forest com-
panies are charged for

‘the wood they cut. Cri--

tics have charged that a
review of stumpage rates
could damage B.C.’s
position in talks with
United States interests
over the proposed im-
port duty on lumber pro-
ducts.

Gordon Erlandson is a
registered forester who
has worked for several
years in the ministry. He
has been appointed to
conduct the mangement
study, and he spoke to
the Review recently from
Victoria.

Clark said, ‘‘I am very

reluctant to endorse this
settlement, and I have
only agreed to it as a last
resort.’ This is unfair,
dreadfully unfair, to a
local contractor who was
refused negotiations dur-
ing the tendering.’’
Clark made it clear he
was referring to H&H
Builders, a Terrace-
based union contractor
who bid on the RCMP
project, Although the
H&H bid came in
$125,000 higher than
Hegge’s, a representative
of the firm indicated to
council before the con-
tract was awarded that
his company’s bid could
be ‘‘adjusted down-

Colette Sutherland was one of many who attended the
10th annual gathering of Elders held in Terrace. See story

on page 24,

Daniele Berquist photo

“This isa "periodic
procedure we go
through, similar to many
other organizations,’’
Erlandson said. “Its pur-
pose is to show us where
we're at, how we’re do-
ing, and to set priorities.
I think it’s a fairly timely
review because we now
have a new minister, and
the ministry is undergo-
ing some reorganization
in being amalgamated
with the Lands branch.’’
Erlandson stated that
stumpage and _ timber
pricing will constitute
only a portion of the
overall study. ‘‘This isn’t
intended to interfere
with the duty discus-
sions; there are a number
of issues and problems
that come up in this
ministry on a daily
basis.’’ Specific ex-
amples Erlandson used
included raw log export
policy, programs for
small business,
culture policy and in-
tegrated resource use
management planning.
Erlandson estimated

silvi- .

‘the review will require six
to eight weeks. ‘‘We

don’t have a great deal ~

of time, and for that
reason this will be

primarily an internal ~

review,’ he said. ‘‘I have
been given the capability
to call on consultants,
but we won't be actively
soliciting information
from sources outside the
forest service,’’ One of
the internal sources
Erlandson cited was the
comprehensive five year
Forest Range and Re-
source Plan, the
ministry’s blueprint for
management and plann-
ing; his staff consists of
clerical personnel and
one other forester.

Erlandson said he
hopes to be able to pre-
sent the results of the
study in the form of
recommendations com-
bined with option
scenarios. ‘‘I’d like to be
able to categorize the
issues and set out the
results under general
headings,’’ he con-
cluded.

a
Outside
Date Hi Lo Prec,
Sept. 15 1438 nil
Sept. 16 15 5 all
Sept. 17 18 7? nll
Sepl. 18 2 64 ail
Sepi. 19 20.0=«5 nil
Sepl. 20 2t.s6 nil
Sepl. 21 9 5 nil

Forecast: Cloudy with
occasional showers
and continuing cool.
Afternoon highs 12-13;
overnight tows 6-7.

Inside

Business Guide 16
Church Directory 8
Classified Ads 22
Coming Events 18

Comics 21
Crossword 21
Dining Directory 20
Entertainment 2
Horoscope 23
Letters 4,5,6
Opinions 4
Sports 6
Stork Report 20

Talk of the Town 5

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