POOP TPETUPCCTTIY TPT iret oer Oe ee uso oS AEE SS ET ET RA
‘.

See

PAGE 3, THE HERALO, Wednesday, January 4, 1978

District Labour
council —

t year was no exception to others shared by

‘The pas
Trade Unioniats, as we had our usual share of ups and -

with the occasisional heartbreak and some
victories,

In review, 1977 saw more Anti-Labour legislation
enacted than any previous year on the cils
records, with bills proclaimed detrimental to

organized an unorganized workers alike as well as
abolition of the Human Resource Board.

The deprivation of organized workers rights to
maintain their union, eat unemployment

on record combined with high inflation and a
se Government that ie devoid a Sonomle
ning and pro ig ve Coun

c problems OY maek work programmes such
as LIP and Canada Works, ets., which are paid for by
workers through disentitiement and longer waiting
periods to qualify for UIC benefits.

While some affiliates to the Labour Council during
the past year have concluded negotiations assuring
industrial peace tho’ at the cost of thousands of dollars
lost in buying power to the membership due to Wage
Controls a tion.

One affiliate in particular, namely the Telecom-
munication Workeru Union at the commencement of
1978 finds themselves on the street locked out victims
of an American owned Multi-national refusing to abide
by the Government appointed mediator whose report
was accepted by the Union.

The are now entering the second year without
a contract solely because of the Multi-nationals in-
tento te break ;the Union and contract-out work,

Your councils Activities During 1977

Unsuccessful lobbying of the Hon. Pat McGeer re
the issues of Apprenticeship training at the Northwest
Community College Industrial First Aid Training and
a Labour nominee on the NWCC Council

Unsuccessful mee with the Hon. Minister of
Tourism, Grace McCarthy re project “Big Stick Hwy.

1977 saw the birth of the Skeena Manpower
Utilization Program later rernamed the Skeena
Manpower Development Program originally proposed
as a multipartite committee. , .

The various Labour organizations in the Northwest
soon determined that no benefits would be received by
their members and therefore they would no longer
partake in this committee.

Your councils executives were named and served on
the B.C, Federations of Labour Political Education,
Envoronmental, Pollutlon and also the Unem-
ployment Committees,

our Labour Council donated d the year to
several causes including the United farmworkers
Union, the Telecommunication workers Union and the
O.K. Labour Councils Anti Right to Wrok campaign.

Your Press Committee issued numerous releases
during the year including letters to the Editor as well
as making TV and Radio ap ANCES, .

The Council thru V.0.1.C.E. and the L.A.C. was
active in numerous areas:

1) We were fortunate in engaging William Horawill
(consultant)

2) Submission of brief to the Pearse commission on

l practices.

vad Obt ed $15,000 in , : from. thi : Dr. Thom: ™
# F'a0g oll port inquiry enabling ust propars and present

briefs to the commission. 7 *

The committee also engaged Bro. Howie Smith
(B.C, Overtime) as a resource person for Audio-Visual
techniques, Preliminary work has been extablished by
the N.W. History Commission primarily for interested
senior citizens. - OS

A meeting was held with a number of RCMP per-
sonnel to quote “improve RCMP union relations” but
in view of recent developments the Council decided
that no further meetings should take place.

The Council was asked for and gave support to the
workers at Skeenaview Lodge and most recently the
TWU demonstration. .

The unemployment committee have decided to hold
a public mee in mid January for all the unem-
ployed workers.

e Education committee reports a very active

:. year as a large number of successful courses and

seminares have taken place. At present underway are
courses in Shop Steward w. and Industrial
Democracy enjoying maximum class attendance.
The Northwest Worker will be into its fourth month
of publication and will reach over 20,000 households in

. “8 expressing Labours point of view on issues im- .

portant to workers.

Your Labour Council submits this report in the hope
* that 1978 proves a better year for the worker and a
drastic decrease in unemployment and inflation.

Hi ly 1978 will see the successful takeover of
B.C. Tel as well as an end to the harrassment and
u ustices to Unions.
solidarity we submit.

J. Jensen
President
N. Smith
Secretary

South African
fugitive safe

GABORONE (AP) — -

Fugitive South African
editor Donald Woods and
his family reached
Botswana today after a
50k Hlo met re
across South African
territory in a small
Lesotho Airways plane.
“T am relieved and I
feel safe for the first
time,"" Woods told
rters in the capital of
this former ritish
rotectorate after the
ight. from Maseru,
capital of Lesotho.
‘oods, 43, editdr of the
East’ London Daily
Dispatch, escaped in
disguise from South
Africa to Lesotho last
weekend in defiance of a
five-year banning order
which effectively
silenced him.
The Lesotho govern-
ment granted - him
olitical asylum and
ued him and his family

United Na tions. refugee

documents,

. commissioner,

The editor, his wife,
Wendy, and their five
children were ac-
companied to Botswana
by an official from
Lesotho to ensure their
safety under an agree-
ment with South Africa
guaranteeing overflight
rights to the small lan-
dlocked black state.

The family Is expected
to leave on Wednesday
for the Zambian capital
of Lusaka, from where
they will fly to London.

le -in Botswana ‘the
Woods are staying ai the
home of the British high
in Wilfred

r.

As editor of the East
London Daily Dispatch,
Woods roused the ire of
the South African gov-
ernment with his per-
distent calls for an end to
the official, policies. of
racial segregation and
for power dhar ng: with
South .
majority.

: Jerre i poet

-Africa’s ‘black park

Kenna, David and Joanne fight their way thro
head to the swimming poot fer a quick

Sect we ene

oa Raat Gases

h the cold, windy weather as they
p Monday afternoon.

Industrial park
for Nanaimo

VICTORIA (CP) —
Economic Development
Minister Don P illips
said today the British
lumbia Development
Corp. (BCDC) will go

“ahead with the first phase

of a 500-acre industrial
park complex in south-
eastern Nanaimo without
a firm committment
from the federal
government fo build an
adjacent lee sea
slppag terminal.

}CDC president Newell
Morrison said tenders
will be called within the
next two weeks to clear
and service three 30-acre
sites which will be used
for lumber operations.

Phillips said the
provinelal government
d hoped that de-
velopment of the park

and construction of the

terminal would take
place at the same time,
‘but since Ottawa has
been unable to make the
decision, we've said that
we will go ahead.”

The minister said the
BCDC and the provincial
government had been
after the federal gov-
ernment and the
Nanaimo Harbors Board
for a committment to
develop harber facilities
at Duke Point.

“The decision
made because of the
strong indicated in-
tentions of lumber firms
wishing to establish on
this land, which would
employ more than 1,500
people and eventually

ve exports of lumber

oducts of more than

160 million,” Phillips
said.

“Nanaimo is sufffering
one of the highest
unemployment rates of
any area in. the provin-
ce,” ,
MONET THERE

He said that Ottawa
had indicated it had
money available for

, make-work

short-term.
Pepjects in the province.
"Bu

willing th come to grips
o-come to grips
with: the longterm
solution te our. eonomic
problems in Canada...
evelopment of Duke
Point .. . 1s one of them.’
Phillips announced in
May that the BCDC had
acquired the right to
purchase approximately
500 acres of end near the
Harmac pulp mill, in-
cl Duke Point and
Jack Point, for devel-
opment into an industrial

rk.
He said the shipping

-sites cleared

was

terminal, which would be
loczted on the: eastern
side of Duke Point, in-
vioved an investment of
more than $30 million. [!
would take in about 100
‘ acres and comprise three
deep sea berths able to
accommodate the largest

forest product carriers.

The minister said today
the total amount of
money for the entire
Project could be in the

undreds of millions .of
dollars, but could not say
cor:
ration would be paying

Mires

how much the
tially to have th
and ser-
viced. Loe

“The development
corporation is going to
prepare the site so that
the forestry firms can
establish there, he said.””

NO NAMES .
He refused to name the
interested firms because
the forest industry is
highly corapetitive.
é minister said he
had writien federal In-

dustry, Trade and
Commerce Minister Jack
Horner last month

outlining the situatior
and asked for his help. He
has not recevied a reply.

Phillips said that the
port of Nanaimo would be

enlarged if the new

terminal is: not: built” at“

uneconomical because of
the movement necessary
around from Duke Point
back to the other,” he
said. ‘But I feel that once
firms start establishing
there that Ottawa
make a decision.”
Morrison said

project would take three
to six months to com-
plete, employing 250- to

people.
* He would not say if the
BCDC had applied to the

‘ Pollution Control Branch

for its.

Phillips said there were.

no environment!
problems associated with
clearing the land and

‘oviding it with services

e electricity, water and
sewers. .

He said the sewers
would be hooked up to the
Nanaimo sewage system.

B.C. Economy

VANCOUVER (CP) —
The Employers Council
of British Columbia says
the provincial economy
will gontinue to be

amilton
esident, said
today ingA news release
that the’ council, in its
economic outlook, sees no
startling or dramatic
improyement in B.C..
amilton sald there
will be “a gradual growth
path” in the province
and, while B.C.’s_ per-
formance will be hetter
than Canada's, the gap
will narrow.

The council's 1978
outlook said the Canadian
rea) gross national
produ t growth this year
s anticipated at four per
cent, Zan improvement
over last year.

Business investment
will ittiprove, the council
said, led by energy-
related products. Hous-

ing starts, however, will
be slightly lower from
243,000 in 1977.
Consumer spending is
expected to be up
slightly—four per cent
compared to three last

- | The
‘unemployment rates in

-federa

strong.

year—and the Canadian

dollar should not decline -

further in value on the
it a norarl etm on
market, although short-
term fluctuations are
anticipated, the council

The’ council also said
lumber is expected to
continue to set the pace in
the provincial forest
producs industry, with
strong newsprint
production and sales,

The depressed pulp
industry, however, shows
no optimism for 1978, the
council added.

The provincial mining
industr
sluggish demand and low
prices for major metals,

e council said, although
eoal prices are expected

to improve, but not the .

demand,

council . said

B.C. aren’t likely to

_ improve in 1978.

e phase-out of the
anti-inflation
program have a
positive effect on cor-
porate performance, said
he couneil,-and will]

luce a delicate year
‘or labor negotiations.

‘as f
1) Thanks to you for _

Beard on

is faced with a |
"to “nothing

Following is a copy sent
to Health Minister Bob
McClelland following his
vieit to Terrace in
December to discuss the
future of the Skeenaview
Lodge:

Dear Mr. MeClelland;
Many ple were
pleased that you took the
time to come to Terrace
to attend a meetin
regarding the future o
Skeevaview Lodge. Many
of these, and others who
couldn’? get to the
meeting ‘would have
appreciated a longer visit
by you and your staff.
During the meeting, |
heard several mesaages
being sent by you and
e

peor at the meeting. I
rd you:
1) Assure the meetin

that Skeenaview woul:
not be phased out;

2) Say that no per-
manent jobs would be
last;

3) Say there would be a
new facility sometime in
the future, but no com-
mitment to location and
size — this to be decided
locally by the com-

m . ;
4) that you h

that the Skeenaview
Lodge Society would
eventually take the same
format as the Mills
Memoorial
Board.

There were several
messages directed to you.
I heard them as follows:

1) There was poor
communication at

being of the residents and
their future;

4) A desire for an
adequate replacement
building. (Majority
favouring the present

5) A desire to be in-
volved in the decision-
making processes that
“where”? and the size of
the new facility.

own = personal
fi and response are

\ or

e in on,

2) anks ‘for your
assurance about the
future of Skeenaview and

that no jobs will be lost.
Skeenaview plays an
important part the
economy of Terrace,

° 3). Thanks for
assurance of a new
replacement unit.

4) 1 am pleased that the
Skeenaview Lodge .

Society will eventually
become a community
Board. and will have
greater control and
responsibility for the
ation of the facility

it has had since 1975.

T hhave been involved
in the life of Skeenaview
ever since we came to

Terrace in late 1971.I was °
the first Chairman on the

Board of Skeenaview
from 1972 to 1974, and a
Board member until
September 1977 when I

resigned,

I resigned because of
feelings of powerlessness
to do. anything for
Skeenaview, We were a

per only, as
the mandate to operate
Skeenaview was never
renewed after the 1974-75
year when the Board
actually did operate the

‘ facility. From this time

Skeenaview, and when in
late 1977 your ministry
decided to change the by-
laws of the Society
without consulting the
Board, and even going so
far as to decide which
members of the Board
were to be rotated off the
Board and in which year,
then it was obvious to me

- that we stood for very

little. 1 felt the Board
members . were reduced

I therefore decided to
resign before my

e2zcribed deadline so ag

avoid one more year of
frustration: an the
feeling that nobody really
cared about the Board or
its members.

To my knowledge, the
present Board has no
more power or influence
than it has had in the
past, with the exception
of the year 1974-75 when it
did assume responsibility

for the facility,
Lam thanktl for youl

Hospital:

assurance that there will
be a new  facllity
however I am concerned
about eh “where” and the
size. ,
I support our MLA's

jtlon that the new
facility remain on the
present site.

1 am really concerned
that only a 60 bed
replacement unit is (or
has) been planned for the
present facility.

I believe that the new
facilities in Smithers and
Prince Rupert will be
very helpful, however, |
also feel that within a few
years of operation
residents from these
facilities are not going to
be able to cope there and
will require a facility that
can provide more
specialized care — such
as Seenaview is now

‘avi .
PSkeanaview is the only
facility in the north that
has trained staff to
minister to elderly people
who will require moe help
than can be provided by
these new facilities in
Prince Rupert and
Smithers. ;

lf Skeenaview is
restricted to 60 beds, it
will mean that as soon as
senior citizens are unable

Letters to the Editor

to cope under limited
care, they will have to be
shipped south from
Smithers and Prince
Rupert, because there

aren't enought
Skeenaview.

I am writing to you
because of my = in-
volvement with
Skeanaview ever since
September of 1871;

because ] knwo many of »
the residents persinally,
and want to. see the best
of care for them. I
remember will the
ive programs
Parried tut in 1974 and
1975 because my wife and
I were involved in several .
of the programs as
volunteers and as visitors
over the years. Moat of
these programs had to be
discontinued after 1975
due to beudget and staff
cuts of up to 23 per cent.
I do care for the
residents of Skeenaview,
and I hope that future
decisions and plans

this northwest comer of

BC,

Thank you for reading
this.

Sincerely

John W. Stokes

December 30, 1977.

The Editor

Terrace Daily Herald
3217 Kalum Street
Terrace, B.C.

Sir:

In the December 2%th
edition of the Herald a
letter from Croft Randle
directed ial attention
to myself in respect to
problems which he has
recently experienced
with his private telephone

service.

It is advisable and in
the public interest that I
simply detail what has
been ing place
because of the sensitive
relationship which has
developed Bince the start
of thy work stoppage
between B.C. Tel ant the

the general public of
access to long distance
service.

On November 27,
during a routine in-
spection of the
Dialing equipment, a
supervisor noticed that a
large amount of ip-
ment was being held fram
we and a series of
checks. These revealed
that nine oor more
telephones had been
biocking access to the
DDD pment for an
extended period of time.
The telephones were
sea tung

pment a 9
investigation indicated
that blocking ;had
been planned.

To determine toe
source of nuisance calls

a fquipment. was |
Telecommunications —);<.4ngt@l ore : the

Workers Union.

“Both: managment’ and”

the union are primarily
repsonsible to the public
for whom an essential
service is performed.
Any telephone user has

the right to know when
and why there has been
an intentional in-

terruption in service and
a union member who
contracts for telephone
service can be treated no
differently than any other
subscriber.

When the TWU strike
against B.C, Tel started,
a systematic program of
muisance telephone calls
was directed against the
lecal _ telephone
managment personnel in
Terrace.

This program was
indiscriminate in the
sense that the calls were

laced at all fimes of the

y or nig ist g
both the supervisors
family and their essential
periods of rest.

In addition, disruption
of the Direct Distance
Dialing network was

undertaken by methods .

which were obvious to
experienced telephone
workers. The intended
results were to deprive

> a

ed
received by a supervisor
and was traced to Mr.
one
had been traced Z
the previous instance, the
telephone was discon:
nected. Mrs. Randle was
informed on receipt of
her call the specific
reason for disconnection

and the method of
reinstatement.
The method of rein-

statement was reiterated
to Randle during his
telephone call to repair
service on December 27,

Mr. Randle has since
signed & guarantee
agalnst further improper
use of the telephone
network and his
telephone service haa
been reinstated

I point out that this is

normal opera :
ure for han-

g of nuisance calls

and is not an action

created for this specific
instance. a

Yours truly,

J. Dunn
Customer Service
Manager
Terrace

Iona Campagnolo

From Ottawa .

I am pleased to see that the Queen Charlotte Ialands
Museum in Skidegate has been awarded $4,000 under .
the federal Capital Assistance Program for National
Museums. The money will be to purchase salt
water pumps for fire protection purposes and to.
ase new monitors for the museum. ~
The Museum Assistance Program provides
financial and technical assistance to enable museums,
art galleries and exhibition centres “to better
preserve the Canadian cultural Heritage’ and 1 am
proud that the Skidegate museum has been recognized
;this manner. ;
IT am pleased to inform you than an application to
e “unorganized territory” of Stiking under
Central Mortgage and Housing ation (CMHC)
loan regulation ahd been successful. - Lb
Now, CMHC may amke loans to homemakers in the
Stiking area if they wish to upgrade thelr properties
utilizing ;the federal government’. 5. rural and
remote housing programs. Persons interested in this
program or pecking further information, should
contact the diatrict CMHC office in Prince George, or
telephone 543-9216,

Recent figures released by the Department of
Labour indicate that Canada’s industrial dis te
record is not quite aa blacts as it is often painted. The
figures show the record of man-cays loat in Canada
seri ces ut wie Pagal ne

+ Ww ‘
disputes much lower in 1977. requency of labour