A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 17, 2001 smelter layoffs avoided by Alcan, B.C. ALCAN HAS reached a deal with B.C. Hydro to avoid shutting down one of its seven potlines at its Kitimat smelter, Instead Alcan will close individual pots and trim electrical usage, And although the terms of the agreement mean the plant will still produce 40,000 tonnes less aluminum over the next 16 months, there will be no layoffs. The deal came just six days short of a deadline Alcan had set for closing the one line. Up to 70 layoffs loomed because Alcan said it didn’t have enough water in its Nechako reservoir to both power its smelter and fulfil the terms of a power sale agreement it has with B.C. Hydro. That would have thrown about 70 employees out of Fallers protest - INDEPENDENT falling contractors in the Terrace area say they’re being unfairly penalized by the Workers’ Compensation Board. The WCE has increased insurance premiums for manual tree falling and bucking, affecting independent loggers who have formed limited companies to work as contractors, said Mike McKibbin, a local faller. ; He said about 200 fallers in the Terrace area are in- cluded in the new WCB classification. The new rates for contract fallers will climb from an average of $7.75 per $100 in wages to more than $20, but McKibbin fears it won’t end there. “The main thing is to try to get the brakes slammed on now,” he said. The rate for integrated forest companies with staff fallers and buckers, meanwhile, will remain at $7.75. “We're being discriminated against,” McKibbin said. Loggers affected by the changes were invited to an informational meeting in Terrace Jan, 13, two weeks be- fore the WCB holds its own meeting at its Richmond headquarters about the changes. Opposition to the WCB’s rate changes is mounting, McKibbin said. “No other industry in B.C. got touched,” he said, He’s also angry because he believes the large forest companies forced loggers into becoming contractors to begin with. Conflict advice sought THE COAST Mountains School Distzict is seeking legal advice to determine if Terrace trustee Hal Stedham is in conflict of interest. School trustees have also decided to check with edu- — cation ministry guidelines to see if Stedham can conti- nue holding public office while working in another’ school district. Elected in 1999, Stedham has since taken a job in the | Stikine schoo! district .as Principal of the school in Lower Post, a community in northern B.C. near the Yukon border - a 12-hour drive from Terrace, some 860 kms away. Stedham-: participates: at --school--board “meetings: through teleconference. “The only thing I have not been able to do is make physical, contact. with schools,” Sted- . ham said via ‘speakerphone. The board’s Jan, 10 decision was prompted by:a ques- tion from ‘Terrace District Teachers’ Union president . Frank Rowe. -_- a . “| enjoy being a trustee and I.feel I can make a value’ able contribution,” Stedham said, adding he has only missed one board meeting. “I am proud of the job I have done” ; Stedham told school board officials the B.C: School Trustees Association says he’s not in conflict. He defended his job in Lower Post, saying he had no choice but to'take employment there. In raising the motion to seek a legal opinion on Sted- ham’s employment, Kitimat trustee Peter King sald he was not questioning Stedham’s abilities as trustee, nor was he calling for his removal. King said he just wants assurance that there is no conflict. COR STAVARE |! STOPPERS Terrace Crime Stoppers are asking for your assistance in solving a theft that occurred just off Cypress Rd. in Terrace, BC. Sometime late afternoon or early evening on December 22, 2000, unknown culprit(s) attended to an area behind Cypress St., to a 40 acre lot where a 1979 snowmachine had been tamporarily parked, — The vehlete owner last saw the snowmachine there in the earlier half.of the day, and upon returning for it found it to have been stolen. The snowmachine is described as: a black and green 1979 Arctic Cat Eltegra 440., short track, with an altermarket paint job including a tiger on each side of the hood, and neon green paddles on the track, ’ we . If you have any information about this or any other similar incidents, or if you know the identity of the. person or persons responsible for this, (ar any other), crime, Crime Stoppers would like to hear fromyou. — - mS Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $1.000.00 for Information leading to an. arrest and charges being laid against an Individual In this or other unsolved crime. I! you have any Infomation call Crime Stoppers at 635-TIPS that’s 636-2477, Callers will nol be réquired to reveal thalr identity nor teathfy In court, Crime Stoppers coos not subscribe to call display. Call 635-TIPS hawk Heauen for 7-elever Nake | 1A. chicken )] nuggets > every saturday! / Hydro deal work. Alcan will not have to deliver any power to B.C. Hydro until May, the time of year when the spring run- off begins to refill the reservoir. Oo, Alcan official Kathy Bourchier ‘said the reason the shutdown was for 16 months was to ensure the company could resume.and maintain full.power generation at Ke- mano. - “We're very pleased with the result,,” Alcan union president Rick Belmont said of the deal, adding the union had had to take a hard line when it came to Alcan’s original proposal to meet power sales contract obligations to B.C. Hydro at the expense of jobs, He added that a solution wouldn’t. have happened if Prepared to sit down and — the two sides hadn't been hammer oul a deal. ; Belmont said credit was also due to people and orga- nizations in Kitimat who had joined together to oppose the shut down. ° (ALl- WEST WINDOWS GLASS ee High energy costs bringing you down! AFREE ESTIMATE, lower costs,-and improved State of the art high performance window systems, are a combination almed to meet your budget and satisfy your need for a warm comfortable home. The All-West Glass Professionals are able to supply and install sealed units, storm windows, and complete new windows, at your convenience-call us today for your free estimate. “SERVING NORTHWESTERN CANADA”. MEASURE UP? HOW DO YOUR 638-1166 MAD IGINAL. AECIPE <».‘ea. Boneless, Skinless, Atte Valu Pack, _ SAVE A ib vo ie Stenb, 3 99. 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