A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 2, 2003 THE MAN WHO helped New Skeena Forest Products negotiate ground-breaking Jabour contracts which lower wages and introduces profit sharing is suing the company for fees he says aren’t being paid and for money he says won't be paid, In a statement of claim filed June 16 in Supreme Court of B.C. Vancouver registry, labour negotiations consultant Doug Quinn says he is owed $485,997.86 in back fees and for fees up until the end of September. At the heart of the claim is a one-year agreement Quinn says he struck in writing and orally in October 20%)2 to provide him with $25,000 a month based on 125 hours at $200 a month and, based on satisfactory servic- es, a $200,000 lump sum when the agreement concludes thie end of this September, Quinn had been working for New Skeena prior to the agreement. Quinn also says he is owed a $100,000 bonus based on the successful completion of a contract with union- ized workers at New Skeena’s Prince Rupert pulp mill, “In return for services which resulted in the defendant successfully concluding contract negotiations with the Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada union, which was recognized as “world class" and which enabled the de- fendant to get off the ground operationally, the defendant agreed and committed to pay the plaintiff a bonus based on these results,” says the statement of claim. “The bonus was $100,000. The then-president, George Petty, guaranteed the payment of the $100,000 bonus to the plaintiff. This bonus has not yet been paid as the plaintiff agreed to defer payment until he end of the con- sulting agreement,” it continues. Quinn states he performed his services “competently, appropriately and to the satisfaction of the defendant.” In early 2003, Quinn says he agreed to reduce his From front Airport asks for | “We're doing what we think is best for Terrace,” he said, “We’re not trying to be a detriment to the other airports. There will still be passengers in Smi- thers and Prince Rupert who will fly out of their own cily.” indicates in a section on future business growth. Mackie said the idea of drawing in traffic from elsewhere around the northwest should not be taken as a sign of attack- ing other northwestern air- ports, HISTORY. AT-A.GLANCE Five years ago SCHOOL DISTRICT spending could be cut by -—[ more than $3 million, states a special report com- s missioned by education minister Paul Ramsey. In a series of sweeping recommendations de- W signed to balance the district’s budget in three _ years, the report says senior ‘administrators, the “@ school district’s Kitimat office and music education a in Terrace could be eliminated, Ramsey ordered the report two months ago after # the Coast Mountains schooi district first report a de- B ficit of $1.345 million. Ten years ago B ALCAN OFFICIALS deny the Kemano Comple- 4 tion Project is in trouble even though they are seek- fing what they are calling a special deai to “revitalize the economics” of the project. The comments follow an Alcan announcement § a that it would take part in a federal environmental re- view of the project which has been on hold now for two years following a court decision ordering the re- By view. fF “Alcan had no choice,” company vice president J Bill Rich said. “We were forced into our current dif- J ficult financial situation.” Although the lower court ruling was overturned, S Alcan will not start work again until a provincial re- view and any further challenges are over. @ = The company has been meeting with the province § for several months to find out if it can took forward to any compensation caused by the shutdown. Fifteen years ago § TOURISTS ARE arriving in greater numbers ear- ly on in the summer season than they did last year. In June, 1,411 visitors checked in at the Terrace 4 and District Chamber of Commerce tourist info cen- tre, a 50 per cent increase over the 958 who stopped Bin in 1997, We're finding that more are staying a day or two B where before they would stop and ask about the ferries,” said travel counsellor Ev Higginson. She and other travel counsellors say tourists are a arriving with more of a knowledge about the city Sand the northwest compared to previous years. And tourists want Kermode bear pins. Construction, Terrace Your Local Highway & Bridge Maintenance Contractor Ph: (250) 638-1881 Monarch - CABLESYSTEMS LTD. Skeena contractor sues | monthly fee to $15,000 for February and March after be- ing told by New Skeena that it was in financial difficul- ties. This was done “on the understanding that when fi- nancing was complete, the $20,000 shortfall would be paid. The defendant has now secured that financing,” Quinn’s statement asserts. Quinn further indicates he is owed money for April, May and June and that New Skeena “has evidenced its intentions not to make further payments” which means he won't get paid monthly amounts for July, August and September. Nor will he receive the $200,000 end-of- agreement lump sum. “The defendant has taken steps which make it impos- sible for the plaintiff to carry out the continuing services between now and September 31,2003. The plaintiff re- mains ready willing and able to supply the services,” states the claim. Quinn, who has extensive labour negotiations experi- ence, crafted a pulp mill contract in Ontario which also lowered wages and provided profit sharing, was hired by New Skeena when it attempted to do something similar in Prince Rupert. The conclusion of the Prince Rupert contract is re- garded as a corner stone in New Skeena’s efforts to low- er operating costs and secure labour flexibility once it finds the money to re-start that mill. The Prince Rupert contract, in turn, was used as a pattern for New Skeena contracts with other unions, chiefly the IWA which rep- resents workers at the company’s closed sawmill here. New Skeena president Dan Veniez has said many times that lower wage costs and lower operating costs were crucial for the company to have any chance of suc- ceeding. Veniez has declined comment on Quinn's. claims. resulting revenue will off- set expansion costs. The idea of internation- al charters and low-cost carriers bringing in new tourists should result in a The study ieans heavily on the Prince George ex- perience where passenger traffic increased 99 per cent — from 174,103 pas- sengers to 345,781 passen- gers — between 1998 and $2.7 million revenue bene- 2000 after WestJet moved fit to the region, the study in. finds. For Terrace, the antici- All told, the study fore- pated traffic increase per- casts an economic gain of centage was cut in half to just over $4.2 million a come up with 45,000 year based on more traffic people based on the cur- coming from large charter rent figure of 90,000 pas- aircraft and a low-cost car- sengers a year. At thal rier attracted by a longer level the study estimates a runway. direct financial impact of $360,000 from additional revenues tied to the $8 air- port user fee. Even at 18,000 passen- gers, Mackie is convinced * GRPARATING -DIVORCING? YOUDONOT HAVETO GOTO COURT. 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