wee

of

24 " Terrace Review _ Weds, K iy : 16

concerning the legality 0 of
such guidelines. A fair
wage bylaw in the City of
Vancouver was recently
struck down by the
courts as being beyond
the jurisdiction of the ci-
ty’s charter; the legal.
opinion gathered by
Hallsor indicated that
any such bylaw, or even
policy guidelines passed
by a resolution of coun-

~ cil could meet’ a similar
’ fate in a court challenge

under the terms of the
Municipal Act. Johnston
said that the guidelines
could be used as an un-
written policy and in-.
serted into the terms of
each individual tender,
but Hallsor expressed
discomfort with that

concept, saying that it .

left things ‘‘up in, the

air’’ .
The fair wage policy

proposal was received in

Platonian Effects

Extensive physical examina-
tions of a special group of 26—
Manhattan Project workers show
no adverse health effects from
‘their more than 35 years of con-
stant exposure to the plutonium
they carry in their bodies.

The group has the longest
known history of exposuré to the

-tadioactive metal, a principal in-
gredientin nuclear weapons. -

According to three research
physicians conducting a long-term
study of the individuals, the 26
men were chosen for study be- ©
cause each is known to have taken
plutonium into his body during
the ultra-secret race to produce
the first atomic bomb in the
‘1940s.

Strike contesea trom,

notices were sent out to
put the union in a legal
strike position if the
mediator books out of
the dispute, and to call
public attention to the

‘nurses’ situation. Miller

said that no talks have
taken place ‘between the
BCNU and the HLRA
since April 20. On May
21 a strike vote received
91 percent approval
from the provincial
membership and 97 per-
cent approval in the Ter-
race local.

“We don’t want a
strike,’’ Miller said,
‘‘what we want is a fair
contract.’? Miller went
on to say that if job ac-
tion becomes unavoid-
able for nurses, total
withdrawal of services
will be implemented only
as a last resort. Initial ac-
tions will involve work-
to-rule and an overtime
ban. .

Miller said that since
the onset of the restraint
era in B.C. health care,
nurses here have fallen
behind their counter-
parts in other provinces.
As examples he stated
that the starting rate for
a general duty RN in
B.C. is $12.85 per hour,
compared to rates of
$14.32 in Ontario, and
$14.05 in Alberta and in
the federal government
service. Top rate in B.C.,
he said, is presently
$14.85 per hour in B.C.,
whereas the top rates for

a + studied. bui cool 1 man-
ner by council members,

and it appears that there
is still, a degree of

animosity between the

building trades and

council over the RCMP

‘building fiasco. Despite

a province-wide settle-
ment between the

building trades council

and contractors, the
local project remains
behind picket lines due

to a dispute between the .

non-union contractor
and carpenters and
laborers employed on the
site, At'the present time,
it is reported that no fur-
ther talks are scheduled,
and the possibility of an
agreement appears
remote. a

One matter which did

seem to be of mutual

concern to both the
building trades and
municipal council was
the demise of the appren-

ticeship program at.
Northwest Community
College

~ (NWCC).
Johnston attributed the
problem to the inroads
which non-union con-
tractors have made in the
construction trades, say-

‘ing that the diminishing

availability. of union
work is responsible for
the lack of both sponsors
and students in the pro-

_gtam. Johnston contend-

ed that non-union con-
tractors are using the

on present’ economic ic climate
“to ‘take advantage of

union trade skills while

contributing nothing to -

the. standards of safety,

and construction quality

implemented and main- {f°

‘ tained by unions through

the apprenticeship pro-
gram. He predicted con-
tinued ‘erosion of these

Standards if the trend {>
non-union.

toward
awards gots on.

‘At the suggestion of |

Ald. Doug Smith, coun-’

cil decided to request

further information
from Kitimat, Prince

Rupert, Prince George -

and Kamloops regarding

their municipal policies :

on wage standards for
contractors. It was
agreed that the issue
would be studied further

at the next Committee of fj ones

the Whole meeting, but
the majority of council
expressed no particular
enthusiasm for deeper
consideration of the mat-
ter, Ald. Ruth Hallock
characterized it as ‘‘an
exercise in futility’, and
Ald. _ Robert Cooper
stated that implementa-
tion of any such policy

-could put the municipali-

ty in a “prejudic
position. Cooper also

. Stated reluctance to have

council put in a
“straightjacket”’ regard-
ing future — contract
tenders.

page 1. |
Ontario; Alberta and the

federal government are

all over $16.00 per hour.

‘Miller contended that the

B.C. government is
responsible for the situa-
tion because funding to
health care is inade-
quate, and he pointed to
the $120 million cabinet-
administered Health
Care Improvement Fund
as an indication that fun-
ding is available.

The HLRA is offering
zero, One and two per-
cent wage increases to
the nurses over a three
year period. Miller
argued that the package
is unacceptable, saying
that the B.C. Ministry of
Finance projections for
the Consumer Price In-
dex through 1987 show
an 11 percent increase in
the rate of inflation since
the expiry of the nurses’
last contract in March

Miller warned that the
deteriorating wages and
working conditions have
resulted in a shortage of
nurses in B.C. Miller
stated that from 1984 to
1985 the number of va-
cant nursing positions in
the provincial health care
system has doubled,
causing bed closures, ad-
ditional workload for re-
maining staff, . and
longer waits for patients
requiring care. He added
that in 1985 the number

of new registrations for.

nurses in B.C. was the
lowest in twenty years
and many hospitals are
actively recruiting nurs-
ing personnel in other
parts of Canada, ‘This
is not just a nursing pro-

“blem, it’s a public health

care problem,”’ he con-
cluded.

Shirley Bentley, direc-
tor of nursing at Mills
Memorial, stated that
staff shortages are not
troubling the local facil-
ity. ‘In fact,’’ she said,
‘‘since the cutbacks
began, there has been
less mobility - the turn-
over rate used to be
about two years, but

‘now nurses are staying

here longer,"

. Program,

‘District 88,

A recent fund-ralsing ralfle by the Terrace Figure Skating
Club resulted in a new type of mobillty for winners Sham-
man (center) and Upasna (éeated) Ramsundhar. Club presl-
dent Steve Schurdevin sald that the raffie was “a fot of
work, but worthwhile”. The four-wheel all-terrain vehicle
was provided at a reduced cost to the club by Terrace
Equipment Sales, represented by Mike Maroney (rear).

Community services couiauea trom pate 1

training in a public ser-
vice context. Copeland
stated that one group is
presently involved in
rebuilding hiking trails
for the Terrace Parks

and Recreation Depart-

ment.

_ The Terrace Alternate
operated in
conjunction with School
establishes
smaller classes and less
severe demands for
students who aren’t suc-
ceeding in standard

“school situations, with

the objective of
Mainstreaming the
students’ back into the
system. The New Alter-
nate Program, modeled
on the success of T.A.P.,

is designed for students
who will not return to
the school system and

emphasizes life skills and

employment orientation.

Abuse of intoxicants is
one of the most. glaring
rips in the social fabric
of the north, and. the
Society addresses that
ongoing problem
through Northwest Al-

cohol and Drug Counsel-
ing (NADC). . Copeland
said that the approach is
one of professional care
and treatment for vic-
tims. She stated that
NADC now has offices
in Terrace, Kitimat,
Prince. Rupert and
Smithers, with a new
facility, the ‘‘House of

.Purification’’, going into

operation soon in
Hazelton.

Care for the elderly:
also comes under the
Society’s umbrella in the
form of home- support’
services. These. include

personal care assistance,

the homemaker service, |
and ‘‘Meals on Wheels’,

the Society’s only
volunteer program.
Copeland announced at
the meeting that funding
is nearly secured for

Handy Dart, a specially .

equipped van which. will
make full-time scheduled

runs in order to help

seniors get out and
around the community.
The funding consists of a

‘donation from the

: ‘Cassio Hall

“Under 10°
| @ am. dul ‘2°

AGK Pac Men va : Skeona Siwenl
Thundarhliids vs Carlyle Shepherd OS
Item, Julyi2 O85
Co-op vs Surveyors - a.
Shoppers Drugs v8 Westar
9 a.m. - duly 18 :
Co-op vs Carlyle ‘Shepherd: Cee
Shopper's Drugs va GK Pac Men
Viam. July 18. | “
Thunderbirds vs Skeena Sawmill wey
Surveyors va Westar et
6 p.m. July 23

* Thunderbirds va Shoppers Drugs. :

AGK Pac Men vs Wester" ;

8 p.m. July 24 7 j _

Surveyors va Carlyle Shephard

Co-op vs Skeena Sawmill -

6 p.m. July ‘30 Poa ty

Carlyle Shepherd va Wosiar. ,

Surveyors vs Skeana Sawmill §
Gp.m.July31 ¢

Shoppers Drugs vs Co-op

AGK Pac Men ve Thunderbids

Don’t tallgate or
follow too closely

Over and above your —
need for a ‘‘space |
cushion’’ of safety, the ©
habit of following a large
commercial vehicle too
closely or driving along
side puts you into. the
professional driver’s.
blind spots. Neither the
driver . nor
motorists will be able to
see you.

Telephone Employees _

with a matching grant .
from the Vancouver
Foundation, she said.

Copeland concluded
by observing, ‘Terrace
seems . to be’: stricken
socially as well as
economically, and there |
are. serious problems
here. The Terrace and
District Community Ser: —
vices Society ‘addrésses _
many of these problems.
T haven’t come here to
ask you for moriey, but

to ask for your recogni-

tion and support.’”

Ald. Ruth Hallock
stated that any requests
from the Society would
be worthy of council’s
consideration,- and
Mayor Jack Talstra.
remarked that in regard
to volunteer community
help he had never seen
any place like Terrace.
“It’s one of the best
things about living
here,’’ he said.

The point would be
difficult to dispute.

‘ .
; —_,,,

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