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- Mon. - Sat. 9am-6pin Sunday Zoam-dpm By Dr. Zucchiatti " ADENT DENTAL CLINIC Come In & Checks. — ty 16West 1! Out Our New Sfoc <. Keith e eSkoena Chose] | Arriving Daily! = qr fiat. |p || 5008 AGAR AVE., tf Misty River Tackle | Z TERRACE o a= Smile and Whitening Phone: 635-2552 4623 Lakelse Avenue, Terrace - Mon-Fri = 8:60 am - 5:00 pm BEAUTIFUL SMILE B Dr. Joe Zuechiatti 20 years of mercury-free dentistry Founding member and treasurer of the Western Canadian Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry General Practitioner Previding services in: Mercury-free white Fillings Teeth Whitening Porcelain Veneers and Crowns. Microabrasion Dentistry | (No drilling, no freezing) © Hygiene and Preventive Care Intra-oral camera assisted Diagnosis For your comfort, we have overhead televisions and headsets. We welcome a.) new patients ‘IALLNEIOS © UNACVSSVENV/VIOHYD - nav . 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. ‘ 40.—took- piace; in housing project which opened last year. She was also involved ia adult mental health recrea- tional facility moves and in the construction of adult mental health living facilities. Uspension 6, Drive’ Springs ae Dh AN Other Sietis — Choose Any Motels and B Receive 2Year Warranty © ARCTIC CAT ] 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. -§300 caTcASH ma AND PAC Warranty . A Oe Bs aa = hy