Community buy-in can wait, says Veniez By JEFF NAGEL UNIONIZED workers at Skeena Cellu- lose’s Prince Rupert pulp mill face a long war of attrition if they resist efforts to cut costs and improve efficiency, NWBC Timber and Pulp president Daniel Veniez warned Saturday, He was reacting to comments by Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada {PPWC) local 4 president Frank de Bar- tolo that the union is ready to “take on” NWBC, which has agreed to buy SCI for $6 million. If the union proves unreasonable, Ve- niez said, he'll isolate the pulp mill by exporting pulp logs - using a recent gov- ernment approval that up to 35 per cent of the wood cut in this region can be expor- ted. “If the executive of local 4 for- J ces us, I’m going to be- & come a lum- ber compa- ny,” Veniez said. “I'm & going to ex- port logs and [I'm going ta fire up the sawmills and J I’m not going to put a dime into & the pulp & mill.” “We'll keep it down as long as it takes for these guys ta recognize economic reality,” he said. “I’m not going to let them hold the test of the company hostage.” Veniez told about 100 people at a pub- lic meeting here Mar. 12 how he directed the suspension of a leading pulp union or- ganizer in Prince Rupert because of an incident there this month that he said un- necessarily delayed the unloading of a 171 rail cars filled with chips. A millwright was told not to fix equip- ment until a pipefitter arrived, he said, extending the delay and costing the com- pany more rail car rent. “’m poing to root out these bullies, suspend them, fire them, do what ever | have to do to get them cut of this compa- ny,” VYeniez said. “That’s a mindset that is just no longer acceptable.” “We're not going to allow hardline un- ionists to control our destiny any more. Those days are over. We need to take’ back control of our company.” From front Dan Veniez speaking on behalf of those parents. “This action, and the way it is being handled, is a clear message to First Na- tions organizations and the community that you are not concerned for the welfare of our children.” Bingham, a band councillor at Kitsum- kalum, warned that native parents will pull their children out of the public school system if the district closes E.T. Kenney, “We'll build our own schools, where they can feel safe and wanted.” Nisga’a parents also want to keep E.T. Kenney and Parkside open because who find it hard to trust the school sys- tem, parent Cecile Fifi said. Closing E.T. Kenney “would be a race- based decision,” added Kermode Friend- ship Society executive director Rick Miller. Race isn’t the only issue heating emo- tions in the debate. Parkside Elementary parents told the committee they feel like they're under attack because parents at other schools think they’re rich. From front Population Add it all up and the northwest as a re- gion has lost more than 5,800 people in five years. The Kitimat-Stikine regional district, which includes Terrace, Kitimat, the Ha- zeltons and Hwy 37 communities, saw its population fall 6.3 per cent to 40,876 — a loss of 2,742 people. The Skeena-Queen Charlottes regional district last 3,102 people - a 12.5 per cent decline — to 21,693. The only regional district in B.C. to lose more people was the much more po- they’re welcoming to First Nations people. A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 20, 2002 New SCI boss unloads on Rupert pulp union Veniez said the pulp mill pays $24 an hour — more if there’s overtime — for jani- tors and for a chef, who he said basically cooks hamburgers. “(’m not in the restaurant business,” he said. “We're going to outsource the hell out of a lot of that.” Unlike the pulp mill,.Veniez said he anticipates no ‘friction with- IWA-union- ized workers at the Terrace sawmill. “The IWA are prepared to turn them- selves into a pretzel to make this work,” he said. “I’m not worried about those folks.” Veniez continues to tour the region in an effort to win the votes of unsecured creditors, who decide Apr, 2 whether NWB5C’s purchase will proceed or whe- ther SCI will go into bankruptey. Veniez was also firm with logping contractors — two of which he has ordered stripped of their replaceable evergreen contracts. He maintained his issue is not with in- dividual contractors but with provincial Jaws that require 50 per cent of timber be harvested by evergreen contractors, In SCI’s case about 70 per cent of wood is cut by evergreens, Veniez plans to put the roughly 20 per cent of SCI’s timber formerly cut by Clear Creek Contracting and Jasak Log- ging out to open bidding, He maintains because those contracts are perpetual and guaranteed, the forest company does not have enough leverage to get competitive rates. “If 1 had been able to I would have ter- minated them all,” Veniez said. “It had nothing to do with pinpointing anyone.” “] didn’t come here to win a popularity contest,” he told contractors. “I came here to rebuild a company that’s dead,” “Unless we're productive and efficient and we bite the bullet and we take our cost structure down, no one’s going to work,” he said. Veniez has also dropped his deadline of late April for community investment in the revived Skeena Cellulose operations. Veniez still says he wants northwester- ners to invest in his company, but now concedes it was unrealistic to expect them to come up with $15 million by the time the sale is to close on Apr. 26. “T guess after a few weeks up here now that’s not realistic,” Veniez said. “People want to get back to work first and they want to see us perform first. I accept that that’s fair enough 1 think that's a reason- able thing to expect.” “But 'm going to be back at you,” he told them. “As scon as we gel the compa- | ny and start performing and start making -money with you and I'll show you why it’s a pretty good investment.” school plan attacked “Like we have a limonsine service that comes around and picks up our kids for school,” Parkside PAC representative Leslie Young said bitterly. Still others are troubled at the prospect of an alternate program operating next door to younger students, “You have that dark image like they’re prison inmates, Lakelsu Junior high tea- cher Joe Murphy said. “It’s not like that.” Murphy said some alternate students have been bullied at mainsiream schools. Others have been subjected to homopho- bia. “We have kids who have been humi- liated and wil! never walk into a classroom,” he said, adding others are so shy they can’t enter a room of people. “They don’t come from Mars or crimi- nal institutions,” he said, “They come from our families. Vice-principal Doug Viguers said stu- dents at Lakelse Junior High and the Teen Learning Centre don’t have a pre- ference on where they might end up ~ they just want a school. declines pulous Fraser Fort George regional dis- trict, which takes in the Prince George area, Its population declined by 3,657, or 3.7 per cent. Although the province grew in popula- tion as a whole by 4.9 per cent to more than 3.9 million, most of that growth was concentrated in the populous lower main- land. B.C.’s growth wasn’t as rapid as during the previous census. Alberta recorded the fastest growth in the country this time, in- creasing by 10.3 per cent. David Burk I'L.E, Cortified 2nd Degree Black Belt Instructor Bus. 250-615-4770 Toll Free 1-877-747-8080 Present this card to receive one free lesson! Hotter, Faster # Packages & Specials ¢« New Bulbs ee Sea fe a6 a See eee ee ~ EMBROIDERY & ADVERTISING T-Shirts © Hats ® Coats ® And More! “FAX: 635-5110. _ PH: 635-5119 - RICHARD’S. CLEANERS & LAUNDROMAT BUILDING. J OAST Mountains SCHOOL DISTRICT SME Rentey Steet, Tether, IWC WRG AES Pieri 280004 QUST | Amt] 41 © Fay Et SP PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT The Coast Mountains School District 82 Board of Trustees is hosting a public forum for input on the issues surrounding potential school closures in communities throughout the District. Individuals and groups are invited to attend to make presentations to the Board on this topic on Sunday, March 24th, 2002 2:00. p.m. ~ 4:30 p.m. R.E.M. Lee Theatre in Terrace 4920 Straume Avenue IF you wish to be put on the agenda, please call 638-4403 ih NORTHERN HEALTHCARE If you're experiencing | the symptoms of tax season, see a professional, Because gi When you know you're ) gelling every penny you deserve, you're hound to feel a Tot a better. 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