tye Big'bucks at stake TERRACE —— If the strike is still on by the time you read this, School District 88 will have saved nearly $600,000. That’s enough. to clear the $579,000 budget deficit that this spring‘prompted the board to cut - five teaching positions, lay off one maintenance worker, reduce ht ofa hours, and cut back a host.of school programs. Schdol District 88 is not al- lowed 10 keep money it is allo- caied:for.the wages of the striking CUPE local 2831 workers. But .under present education minisiry practice it is entitled to keep 'tht wages of teachers and CUPE maintenance workers who are obsérving the picket lines. As a, result, the school board saves an eslimated $82,000 every day of the strike. That's $74,000 worth of teachers’ wages each day and $8,200 worth of wages. from CUPE maintenance workers. Even if picket lines come down. early: this week, the district will have: ‘pocketed. more than $320,000 from Jast week’s action If'—that is — the provincial ~ ‘government lets them keep it: ~ ‘In past years it hasn’t béen a big issue. - "Tt was usually the teachers who were on strike, not the CUPE ‘workers, and. districts weren't saving the huge teachers’ payroll. Now: with a far larger sum of money up for grabs, school board - officials. won't be surprised. if théy*re denied the money by Vic- * toria. ; “'There is no precedent,’’ says school district secretary-treasurer Barry-.Piersdorff. ‘‘We have no idea what-they will do.”’ ~ Math debated in fax wars WHILE PICKETERS walk the line, the key battle in the strike of '93 js the war of the fax ma- 4,11 per cent. School | district secretary treasurer Barry Piersdorif pegs the increase, over, two. years. tr anywhbre' from’9.9' Her cent tht the highest paid’ union members” up to 24,8 per cent for the lowest paid, = ” One of the few figures that both . sides seem to agree with is that the union’s lowest paid worker, now earning $12.49 an hour would go up to $15.59 an hour if union pay equity demands are met. Cc. n tae Le at . “Bui ide" chen out statements | - daily “disputing ‘the other ‘site's - figures. = ‘--AS Of last Friday the two sides were still light years ‘apart in their assessments of how much ‘CUPE’s. latest demands would cost, : _ ; --CUPE bargaining chair Tina Andérson maintains the union members’ wages would go up The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 2, 1993 - Page AS UPE STRIKE Students takeaction TERRACE — Students here are applying pressure to force strik- ing CUPE workers and school board officials to reach an agree- ment. Caledonia” Student Council president Jeff Smithanik said stu- dents would this week begin wing a series of ‘‘annoyance’’ tactics aimed at forcing the two sides to talk. Smithanik said: students may soon start pickeling the houses of — schools superintendent Frank Hamilton and CUPE local 2831 bargaining chair Tina Anderson. They’re also considering a late- night phone. campaign targetting school board officials and CUPE leaders. “A few sleepless nights in a row might get some action,”’ he suggested. Smithanik.said Grade 12 stu- dents are Furious over the pros- pect of losing classroom time in preparation for provincial exams. “We're very concerned,’’ he said, noting provincial examina- tions are worth 40 per cent of the students final grade. ‘The material is.on the exam. If you haven't covered it you'll do very poorly on the exams,”’ *"We're also going to go to Hel- mut Giesbrecht, our MLA, and see what he can do to help us.”’ Students resent being used as a lever by the unions, he said, **There are more people -out of school at Cal than there are CUPE members in the entire dis- trict,”’ he noted. '‘They’re show- ing complete disregard for our fu- ture.’ The strike is also interfering with graduation preparations. The senior prom, held last Sat- urday, was moved from the Caledonia gymnasium to the Northwest Community College cafeteria because of the strike. TE 10 THE TERRACE STANDARD Woods grief Dear Sir: It was with mixed feelings that I read your issue of May 12. On the front page was the Minister of Forests telling us what we all really knew al- ready - Forests aren’t Forever. Toward the back, an article about Jack Munro, apparently just as much of a foulmouthed boor and bully as the head of the Forest Alliance as when he was head of the IWA. Some- body shoutd lock him up in a room with the other bully of the woods - Paul Watson, They deserve cach other, On the one hand, as an en- vironmentalist who lives in a fair share of caustic comments from friends and foes alike over the years. 1 wanted to say “J told you so”’, But as a lifetime woods worker I couldn’t for I was filled with sadness that we have finally come to this. Be- cause in the end when payback time comes I know who will pay for the bad management, the lies of Forests Forever, and the endless greed - our chil- dren. ; When the mills shut down and leave it isn’t the fat cat city politicians with their mindless promotion of development at any cost who will pay, and it won't be the millionaire con- hotels who will pay; it will be the yourig family with a mort- gage who believed these people. The bucker, the loader apera- tor, the millworker, the parts man, the small storeowner - that’s who will be left holding the bag of busted dreams and broken trust when the politicians who had a chance to make a difference - and didn’t - leave. Terrace will probably fare betler than most lowns. iam afraid that in Smithers, Socred scams. will have a devastating effect. It's coming. We could log every last valley and park and it would only postpone the inevitable. - We would be left without even the special places. Make no mistake - in certain towns they are already talking about logging the parks. In conversations with RPFs and millworkers and loggers, managers and mililwrights I hear the same story - we're cutting too much, too . fast While I respect their desire for anonymity, I have a hard time respecting their fear of speak- logging town, I have taken my |. tractor with helicopters and” Prince «Georgé, dnd Questicl- the * effects: of C35 years (ro | _— ing out. But it is only when I jux- tapose the admitted over- | ° commitment of resources that hd. Chat Spi £ ant ee ROUP CARE GAMES - Some youngsters of striking CUPE workers take advantage of gorgeous weather by getting ready to boot the ball around. The facility, located at Knox United Church, is run aM? thy at Linz: d anil ie Ro thy TINY. BAND OF picketers hit the bricks in Stewart. That's - Stewart picket captain Elaine Douglas standing in front of the . high: school In that community. The library, attached to the - gchool, wasn’t affected by the strike. pace. a by unian members who watch over the kids. Unions join forces | TERRACE — Teachers and maintenance workers have joined striking CUPE local 2831 workers on the picket lines at lo- cal schools as a gesture of solidarity. Up to a third of unionized — CUPE maintenance workers and mumerous teachers picketed in support of the strikers last week. CUPE bargaining chair Tina Anderson, at strike headquarters, says the support her union is” receiving is tremendous, Local 2831, representing the predominantly female secretarial staff at schools, are striking for a pay equity program that would bring wages in line with the pre- dominantly male outside and maintenance workers in CUPE local 2861. . “There is a temendous solidarity out there between the three groups,”’ Anderson said. ‘+ The union is holding out for a two-year ‘contract that would bring their wages close to the wages presently paid lo the out- side CUPE workers. ‘This won't give us pay equi- ty,” she said. ‘But it’s a first step towards bringing our base rate up to the base labour rate of the other CUPE local.” The three unions are also work- ing together to operate a day care centre for children of their mem- bers at Knox United Church while the schools are closed. The other unions also help at strike headquarters running er- rands, and taking coffee and food out to the picket lines. There are 137 CUPE local 2831 members on strike in this school district. : It is the first time that CUPE unlon has ever gone on strike here. Their contract expired June 30, 1992 and they have been negotla- ting since January. oa The longest strike in this district ‘was four years ago when the teachers were out for 19 days. The Terrace District Teachers Union, and CUPE local 2861 signed new contracts with the school district three weeks ago. appeared in the May 19th paper with the disgusting groveling of the Orenda crew for our money that I find com- ic relief (comic is one ap- preciates the theatre of the ab- surd), For now we find the Orenda boys trying to con the govern- ment out of a $100 million to try and get their pig to fly. What is really scary is that the NDP didn’t have the jam to say no, If the Orenda mill was.a vi- able project bankers wouldn't hesitate to lend It money. It scems everybody is a capitalist until they: fail to get real capi- talisis to underwrite some hair- brained scam. | To. ‘Talstra, Wazney, Sheridan, Foster, etc, stop bell- ing up to the trough. You're Cont'd Page A& Tt was a happy time on May 24 at Elks Park. That was the day of the annual Elks sports day. _ The weather was sunny. That is different from past years, - Hundreds of . children came io the sports day. The Elks also had food and drink to enjoy...” = cinhe: Start 1 for péopte. i ig how to read... Job help There is a new way to . find a job. People can now use computers and video SCICENS. - . a These are at the employ- meni centre, They take the place of cards on job boards. People can now press buttons for what they. want It is easy to use the new way. It is almost like playing a video game, . The computers have in- formation on jobs across the country. | : People can also get a copy of what they see on a screen. The. information is in. “french and in english, a ee Ceres ee eT ee ee ee ee ee ees