Pilots, flig t attendants —
seek union at Hawkair ©

PILOTS AND FLIGHT attendants ‘ working
for regional air carrier Hawkair have filed an

application with. the Canada Industrial Labour’

Relations Board to become members of the
Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW).

“The company employs approximately 25 pilots
_and flight attendants:and the board is now going
through payroll records to determine ifa majority
of them want to certify.

“We don’t expect there to be any problem i in
reaching that majority,” said CAW Tepresentative
John Bowman last week.

_ A successful certification would. be followed
by bargaining to establish a contract, he added. .

“They came to us because they were not happy |

with the way things were being done,” said Bow-.
man of the approach to the CAW made by the pi-'

lots and attendants.

~ In particular, Bowman said the employees °

were re upset with a pay cut instituted }arbitrarily last

New top cop.
is on his wa’

“THE LOCAL RCMP detachment. has’ a new ‘commander.
Staff Sgt. Dave Senson, currently the-officer in charge of
the Dawson Creek RCMP detachment, is being promoted to.
‘inspector and moves here as soon as he can sell his house.
_ ~~ Senson was interviewed by city council members and city’ *
... Officials.the end of January after the RCMP recommended

him for the position.

“He: seemed to be open to the city’s needs and. where '
we're trying to go with policing,” ‘said city administrator
» Ron Poole. °

- Poole talked to the Dawson Creek city administrator who

“had wonderful things to say about him.”

He heard that Senson worked well with the city there
and likes to get out in the community, especially if there’ s
-aproblem. i. |
“I’m not his supervisor but: when you’ re’ paying 70 per
cent of his salary you like to have input,” said Poole.
»Senson seems’ to have.the same values and ethics as pre-
_ vious detachment commander Inspector Marlin Degrand
who was transferred to Edmonon, Poole added.'
_ Senson wanted to stay in the north rather than move to a
bigger city. “He likes the north and he’s an outdoorsman. He
loves to fish s so Terrace'to him was a really nice promotion,”

Poole said... ¢

Senson, who is married: and has one daughter, i is glad to mi

be staying in northern B.C.

“We’ve very much been enjoying the north since we’ ve
been here,” he says.’ “We’ re > very excited about coming to

Terrace.”

a Senson has been. detachment commander. in ‘Dawson
Creek, since Sept. 2005. The detachment here is larger than

the one in Dawson Creek.

‘Senson previously served in Houston, Vernon, Kaslo
in the Kootenays, the criminal investigation section and the
auto theft unit at the RCMP’s E Division headquarters 1 in

Vancouver and White Rock.

UKs I Years:

“I'd say that was about the major issue,” he
added.
“They were upset and now they want to have

a legal contract with their employer. that will give |

them protection,’ ” Bowman continued. »:

The CAW is a major union player in the Ca-
nadian aviation industry because groups. of Air
Canada and Jazz employees belong to it. °

“We also represent smaller regional air carriers
as well,” said Bowman.

In this region, the CAW is best known as the

» union representing Alcan workers but it ‘also rep-

resents Kitimat civic workers and people -that

work at three other Kitimat businesses, including
that town’s Dairy Queen. . ’

_ A Canadian Industrial Relations Board official
in Vancouver said last week it is proceeding with
_ checking to ‘determine if a-majority of the pilots
and attendants wish to become unionized.

Ken Chiang also said the company will have a.

_ chance to file information that will be considered

a,

a Senseless fire.

CAPTAIN Dave Moulton of the Salvation ‘Amy stands next tog a a dumpster set
on fire around 8 p.m. Feb. 22:.Fortunately the fire was contained and did not -
spread to the building. The Salvation Army plans to apply to the city to erect a
fence to prevent further vandalism.

as ‘part of the board’s deliberations.

The majority of Hawkair’s approximately 100
employees live in Terrace. ..

- The company is going through financial diffi-
culty and has been in bankruptcy y protection since
last October while it re-organizes its affairs. _

Airline general manager Tom Beshr said he
had no knowledge of the certification filing, add-

ing “99 per cent of our employees, are extremely

happy.” ;
“We're in bankruptcy proceedings and a union

would not do anything more than take money out
of employee’s pockets,” he added. “You can't get

‘blood from a stone.”

Beshr said hie would prefer not having a union-_

fo)

ized workforce as it results in bureaucracy being ©
created and walls being erected between manag-
_ ers and workers;

“The bottom line is it is what it is,” he said.

For more on Hawkair’s:efforts to come out of
bankruptcy protection, please see Page A8.

DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO

of chest pain.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - A3

News In Brief

Senior citizens robbed
TWO.FEMALE seniors lost money ‘in two separate.
_ brazen thefts in mid-February.
On Feb. 16, two youth, about 15 to 20 years old,
_ grabbed an elderly lady’s purse as she walked along the
3400 block of Sparks St. near Scott Ave. just before
noon. A witness followed the suspects and saw them
running eastbound on Scott Ave.
The pair jumped a fence near the Keystone Apts and.
ran across‘a field where they dropped the purse, which
was found without any cash in it. One teen wore a grey
hoodie jacket and the other a blue ski jacket.
On Feb. 21, an elderly woman answered the door
‘of her’ residence on the 4400 block of Lazelle Ave. to
find a female begging for money to take her sick child»
tothe hospital. .
- The woman left the room and returned to find the
. female gone and money missing that had been visible
“on a nearby table. og a.

- Driver charged i in crash

A.NEW HAZELTON driver received ‘a ticket after '{
. causing an accident when he turned i in 1 front of another
vehicle Feb, 17.

The man, travelling westbound: in his van, turned ©
left toward Old Lakelse Lake Drive and collided into”
an eastbound :car on Hwy 16...

“Terrace RCMP charged him with failing to yield to

Mills Memorial Hospital to be examined for neck and -

Ina separate crash Feb. 20, a Ford Taurus went off :
"the road and down an embankment in slick conditions
in the Old Remo area. The female passenger reported. |
_ minor injuries, but did not b0 to hospital. No 0 charges 7
"were e laid. .

Rupert rolls onward

A LEADING Vancouver business publicationi is ‘seriding.
a team to Prince Rupert.as the city continues to draw
attention based on its container port development.
Peter Legge of “B.C. Business” said Prince Rupert i is
attracting attention because of the port’s future impact
on the region and the province. . ,
‘ Legge himself will be a key participant in the Tides :
of Opportunity conference i in the coastal. city N March 2

.

Purple. gas use ° expanded y.
| -THE'B.C. government has expanded ‘the. eligibility to .
“use lower-taxed purple gasoline i in all off-road vehicles, '
including snowmobiles and all-terrain RV vehicles.
‘The. tax break was created for a specified list of
farm and industrial vehicles but finance minister Carole
Taylor said it was becoming too. complicated to keep .
track of: all the different machines used in modern :
forestry and mining, so the tinted fuel can now be used
-in any vehicle not licensed for use on the roads, as well.
as other vehicles that were previously’ eligible. .~ *
Under B. Cc.’ s Motor Fuel. Tax: Act, - purple. Bas.
is taxed at a rate of three cents per litre. Outside: the--,
Greater Vancouver transit area, the regular provincial.
gasoline tax is 7.75 cents per litre. -

| February is coming to a swift

close. The weather has. been
great and many of us have been

out enjoying it. Our general

meeting was held the second
Thursday of the month with
a good turn out. Two things
emerged from the meeting
continued problemswith the roof
which wiil require major repairs
this summer and attendance at
our Pancake Breakfast is going

down each month. We would’

like to know why...

The Kinette's treated us to

-occasions. Looked after Bingos and many other
‘times. | think her motto for life must be, “What “43
-ever needs to be done must be done right”. _
She also,has a | great smile. Thank you.

cour r anritial ‘Sweetheart dinner
and dance. A wonderful meal .
_and prizes forall. The new Queen —

this month. Jean Cunningham
‘isin .Terraceview Lodge and

Coquitlam.

of Hearts is Lorna Kowlak and
Bill Mc. Rae is this years King.
Congratulations to you both. —

| have been happy to see
very few names on the sick list

a letter from ‘Aileen Frank’s:
daughter says she is keeping
well and settling into a Condo Ir in

. oncoming traffic. The adult woman in the car went to. p>...

2 rere eae WA 0 8