Hospital workers “strike” —

A SMALL band of hospital
workers staged what they
called a practice strike out
side of Mills Memorial
Hospital in the pre-dawn
hours of March 6.

The workers, members
of the Hospital Employees
Union (HEU), say they
fear continued cuts to
hours and jobs as the
Northern Health Authority
trims its budget to cope
with a budget freeze from
the provincial government.

HEU “steward Andrea
LeBlanc said some of the
70-odd union members are
losing hours or are being
put on the casual call-in
list.

-And jobs which come
vacant are more than like-
ly to be declared excluded
from union jurisdiction
when they are re-posted,
she said,

“So many of us have
husbands who because of
the economy are not bring-
ing in a cent,” said Le-
Blanc,

“We want a vibrant
economy in Terrace.
That’s not going to happen
if there are fewer jobs in
Terrace.”

In at least. one case,
wages are being lowered
by reclassifying positions,
LeBlanc continued,

“At the beginning, we
were afraid. Were past
afraid and now. we're
angry,” LeBlanc said.

She cited examples of a
full time food service
worker position going to .7
of a full time job and of
eliminating a .4 of a full
time janitorial position.

She said union mem-

- bers have written letters

and sent letters to various

“Roger Harris is sup-
posed to represent us, but
all he does is smile pretty
at us,” said LeBlanc.

The Northern Heaith
Authority has, so far, not

out that has gone on in
other health authority re-
gions.

authorities, including ;
-Skeena Liberal MLA
Roger Harris. ,

SPRING HOURS

LICENSED PRACTICAL nurses Peter Gill and
Donna DeMonte bundled up against the cold early
‘March 6 as the Hospital Employees’ Union staged

what it called a practice strike against continuing job
and hour cuts at Mills Memorial Hospital. Hours are
being reduced and-jobs taken out of the union.

Local authority admin- —

istrator Cholly Boland said
that nobody belonging to a
collective bargaining unit
has lost a job yet because
of cuts.

“Some people may
have had their hours re-
duced and people who are
part time may be even

more part time,” he said.

Other ‘savings have

_ been realized by not filling
vacancies and relying on

attrition, Boland added.
As it is, Boland noted

that employee levels -at

Mills Memorial Hospital

are already close to new-

measurement standards
used to decide how many
workers — are needed for

specific functions.

He is however anticipa- °

ting a renewed round of
job shifts later this year as
the Northern Health Au-

thority continues -to centra- «
lize some of its services in

Prince George.
This will involve inter-
nal health authority ser-

“vices such as payroll, per-

sonnel and administration. -

‘Officials said from the
start, when the Northern
Health Authority was cre-
ated in late 2001 by com-
bing more than’ a dozen
smaller ones, that savings
would be realized in these

_ and other non-patient care

areas.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 12, 2003 - A3-

News In Brief

Managers hit by job losses

THE NORTHERN Health Authority has cut more man-
agerial positions relative to their number than union jobs.

Up to the end of 2002, the equivalent of nearly 24 full
time managerial or other jobs nol covered by a union
contract were cut from an original figure of 228,

That’s around 10 per cent of all such positions, says
health authority spokesman Mark Karjaluoto.

Of those jobs, seven. were in the northwest.

Just over 95 fuil time equivalent jobs — or 2.5 per cent:
were cut in the. same period from the 4,009:

of the total —
full time equivalent positions covered by union con-
tracts, he said.

“A lot of these FTEs (full time equivalents) came
from vacancies, reductions in hours, early retirements,”

aid. estat the. on we, only, had to do. (16. FTE

Saco!

-The-bulk: of the FTE reductions —
and around: Prince George with the northeast absorbing
34 and the northwest 21, he added.

Karjaluoto said the authority | has not set iob cut tar-

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gets but does make reductions with a view to not affect-
ing patient and client care.

It’s not yet known what éffect Northern Health Au- 7

thority personnel decisions will have on Terrace and the -
northwest for this year.
But already since January there is a growing list of .

departures from the Northern Health Authority's public ;-

health and housing offices on Katum St.

Dave Dennis has departed from a job as head of con- .
tinuing and long term caré in ‘Terrace and Rose Dreger is :
retiring from her job as public health nurse manager.

Margaret McKeivie is resigning from a public health .
management position and Peggy Julseth’s jab is ending”
as a community initiatives co-ordinator.

Julseth, for. instance, was the. Northern Health Author-

7 odty’s key official.on-the-McConnell Estate supportive. ‘
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] What Snowmobilings All About”

Third one soon?

HEALTH CARE officials are confident the recent
recruilment of a second internal medicine special-
ist improves their chances of finding a third one,

They may even be a bit ahead of the game as
they have a number of applications on hand from
the search which resulted in Dr. Zafar Iqbal agree-
ing to move here this summer from Dublin, Ireland,
says Cholly Boland of the Northern Health Author-
ity.

Iqbal is not ‘only an internal medicine specialist,
he has a sub-specialty in kidney ailments, making
him a perfect fit for the kidney dialysis unit at
Mills Memorial Hospital which is scheduled to
open in late spring.

Iqbal will spend half his time al the clinic and
the other half. of his time on general internal medi-
cine duties in Terrace and Kitimat complementing
the work of Dr. Barrie Phillips, who is now the
area's only other internal medicine specialist.

That means there’s room for a third internal
medicine specialist, said Boland.

“We have quite a pile of applications and it’s a
matter of going back over them," said Boland.

Having those readily available will make it eas-
ier than having to advertise all over again, he said.

Tackle store lures thief

TERRACE Crimestoppers is looking for informa-
tion about a break and enter at the Fish Tales store
last summer.

Around 4 am. Aug. 31, 2002 the store at 4640
Keith Ave. was broken into and an undisclosed
amount of cash was stolen, police say.

. The burglars apparently tried to disable an exter-
ior alarm system and an in-store video camera. Po-
lice believe the thief or thieves got into the store
by prying open an exlerior door to the store.

Tf you have any information about this burglary

call Terrace Crimestoppers at 635-8477,

Fee dip doubted

HAWKAIR officials say a March 1 $10 decrease

‘in the $24 round trip air security fee won't likely

translate into any actual savings for its passengers.

Hawkair marketing director Char Toews said the
decrease will merely help the Terrace-based air-
line tread water against a recent fuel price hikes as
well as dramatically increased insurance costs.

“We'll just be sending less money to Ottawa and
more to Shell Oil,” Toews predicted.

Toews welcomed the fee decrease, but Hawkair
officials still dispute the overall concept that air-
line passengers . alone should pay for new airport
security systems.

“People in tall buildings are benefiting, too,”
she noted. “I’m glad it’s lower but it still shouldn’t -
be a user fee.” Hawkair has been sending Ottawa
nearly $100,000 per month for the security fee
charged on its passengers... ..,

Also wanted is a way, 6 Teimburse. passengers.
‘who fly td#Vancouver with Hawkair and :thentcon-.
nect to other airlines. Right now, those people are
being charged double, she said.

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