A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Union pledges court action
for worker severance pay

THE STEELWORKERS
union says it'll fight for
worker severance and back

_ pay from the financially fal-
tering Terrace Lumber Com-

_ pany. °
Steelworkers Union local —

_ 2171 president Darrel Wong.

says his. group has started
proceedings for $128,167
in holiday pay and $2,044

million in severance owed. -

workers now that mill has’
been sold off and is being
dismantled.

“We've already made an
application: to the wustee in

' bankruptcy for the sever-

ance pay and the vacatior
pay that’s outstanding,” says
Wong. “That's ahead of the
request for proposals but we-
wanted to be the first. through —
the door.”

- “They don’t have a whole
bunch of money laying
around or they wouldn’t be
in this financial situation so
dt appears'to us that we are
going. to end up being one of

“the groups working on try-

ing to make sure.our issues

go front and centre-in front
of the judge because it looks

- like that’s where this is go-

ing to end up,” Wong" said.

- The $2.044 million figure ~

is so large because many of
the union’s members have

been working at the mill for

more than 20 years under
various owners, the last of
which was the Terrace Lum-

_ ber Company. |

But that number could be
less, says Larry Prentice, the
trustee .charged ° with. over-

Seeing the company’s finan-

cial future.
’ That’s, because the fig-'

_ ure is the amount owed em-
- ployees should the Terrace

: Lumber Company ‘be deter-

«Sanath

mined a successor employer. -
‘from previous owners New —
Skeena Forest Products. and

‘Skeena Cellulose Inc.

‘ “There.is some uncertain-
ty over the status over what
the right amount of sever-—

From front

Toddler
inquest

planned

- RCMP officers
launched a lengthy criminal
investigation that didn’t end:
until-March 9 of this year,
‘said RCMP Const. Rochelle
Patenaude.

“Charges had been for-

warded to the major crime |
prosecutor but were not ap--

- proved,” she said.

Coroners in B.C. are usu-
ally not. able to complete

what’s called a judgment of...

inquiry, commonly known
as a coroner’s report, until a

police investigation is con-

cluded.
An inquest is a formal
proceeding which resembles
a court case in how one is
conducted.
It is public and involves
-the family of the deceased
and any people involved
in the investigation of the
death.

It is often difficult to

- schedule ‘because so many

people are required to agree
on ‘a timetable, including

lawyers for the people in-
volved.

The best

place to
plant carats

...2son you! |

Bight now! |

then . |

Darrel Wong

through the claims process,”
Prentice says.

“If it is‘a successor em-
ployer then employees’ term
of service would be recog-
nized in calculated sever-—
ance pay — there is an as-
tonishingly high number of
employees who have been at
that mill for 20 to 30 years.”
 - Wong says that’s a point
that shouldn’t even be de-

a

P.A.L.

(Possession and
chia) Licence}

FIREARM LICE ¢
The Federal Firearm Safety
~ Course (P.A.L.) will begin =
Saturday mo

Nov. 18th, 2
From 9a.m.-4p.m. oF.
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Course length - 12 hrs.
Saturday 18th 9-12; 1-4
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bated.

“Our collective agree-
ment that they signed made
them a successor employer,”

Wong said. |

‘The union’s efforts to re-

coup all monies owed could

“well be hampered by federal
bankruptcy legislation which
caps pay outs for benefits
and holiday pay to workers

~at $2,000 each.

“Under the federal regu-
lation there is very little pro-
tection for workers under
 bankruptey.” said Wong last
week.

Wong also charges TLC
has not abided by the collec-
tive agreement between his
members and the company

~ because the company never
did give formal written no-

‘tice that it planned to close

‘for good.
Wong says even as re-
cently as Oct. 13 the union

réceived written correspon-:
manager’

dence from mill
“Wayne Haw that the com-

pany would not be perma- —

nently closing.

“There was no official
notice they were putting the
operation up for sale and

auctioned — as a matter of

fact it was one of our mem-

bers who was browsing the ~

internet and phoned us,” he
says about the Maynard's
auction two weeks ago. |

“They are obviously at-
tempting to ignore their
responsibilities under, the
terms of the collective agree:
ment”

Rick Neuwirth, third vice

president for the union says»:

many of the workers at the
mill feel betrayed.

“T guess part of it has been
that there had been people
looking at buying the mill
as a whole. but it went this
route, so.there is no chance’

_ now,” he said.

members of the
invested: their

' Some
union even:

own money into the mill, .

Neuwirth said.
— “Some of them are out
$100,000 a share.”

- Large, -
‘unclaimed

sum of money
foundi in car.

See page A16

a

Min Total D Max Min Total

A Temp Temp Precip

mm Y Cc Cc mm

27 3.6 0.9 23.3 27 = 7.1 2.4 0.6

{28 4.3 0.3 22.8 28 «8.2 3.8 14.2.

29 38 -19° OOF/29 65 32 92

30 10 -44 0.0 30, 6.4 3.0 4.6

31 11° -5.1. 00//31 65 4.0 23.4

1. 26 -20 oOOf}1 50 32 4.5

2. 3.3 -0.5 0.0 }:|2 5.6 24. 2.4
WINTERIZE YOUR VEHICLE

Keep some emergency items in your car at all
times, including an ice scraper/snow brush, first
aid kit, jumper cables, o Aashlight and a warm
blonket. if you have a cell phone, bring it. If you
can afford to purchase chains, do so. Let others
know about your route and your expected arrival .
time. Always wear your seat belt. A four-wheel
drive vehicle has no more traction on ice than
ony other type of vehicle. Avoid driving in poor
weather conditions whenever possible.

LA MAERUA SCE EEE eeeaasy
’ . ]

SAMA Koh AAI I ASS KLM II LLAMA AL

ore 38177" CALENDAR OF EVENTS NOVEMBER 2000
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SUNDAY - MONDAY ‘TUESDAY ~ WEDNESDAY. THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
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{Terrace Public Library sito Open) - UBRARY
120 gs 13 16 17 18
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Adutt Christmas | | Homeschool
Rubber Stamping Science
7:00-9:00 pats 6 Ad years
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Fist Cas : Toddler Time
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GUNO
. 183 cm- 6’ 00" tall
CO: 79 kg - 175 Ibs

If you have information, call CRIMESTOPPERS

1-250-635-TIPS —

You will remain anonymous You may be eligible for a cash reward. Remember... We don’t need your name - just your information.

¥ CRIME Lug |
STOPPERS

“ance pay is for the employ- f° 4
_ es and that will get resolved

Edwin Arthur GUNO - Also Known As. Edwin -
Arthur WILSON = Black hair, Brown eyes, 183 cm - 6’
00" tall, 79 kg- 175 Ibs and may have a mustache.

Mr. Guno- is wanted by the Terrace RCMP. There is

* an outstanding unendorsed warrant for his arrest fora
‘Edwin Arthur Review of Sentence as the result of past convictions for
a number of offences. The past convictions frown were >

~ for break and enter incidents that happene
September 19, 2005 to October 14,2005. .

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If you are in a high risk group listed above, you can receive free
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