A2 - The Terrace Standard. Wednesday, December 24, 2003 Civil servants keep isolation pay, Terrace and Kitimat still excluded THE PROVINCIAL gov- ermment left in place a bonus program for Hs em- ployees living in rural and isolated places when it ne- gotiated a new contract last month, Ata cost of $1.4 million a year, the province didn’t raise it as an item when it met with negotiators for the B.C. Government and Service Employee’s Union ta work oul 4 two-year ex- tension to the ‘existing contract, says a. senior government official. “Yt wasn't a priority,” said Ron McEachern, an assistant depuly minister with the B.C. Public Ser- vice Agency, when laid against a payroll of nearly $1 billion. “It wasn’t talked about.” Although the province is cutting spending every- where else, McEachern said it left the isolation program untouched hbe- cause it had its eye on the . bigger job of reaching a new contract. “T don't want to leave the impression that it isn’t important, but we wanted to be successful to get an extension agreement,” McEachern added. tabled 15 or 20 items and the union did a similar amount. In a normal con- tract negotiation, we would have tabled four or: - five times that amount.” The extension contract “We ends next March, The extension also puts an end to the government plan to sell some or all of its liquor stores, but does mean those stores: could have longer. opening hours and be open on days they are now closed. This is the second con- tract in-a row that the iso- lation. package The policy was last re- viewed 20 years ago but- the reasons why it was needed or how itis arrived at isn’t known. What is known is that a combination of factors in- cluding availability of medical treatment, shop- ping, access to an airport and the like add up to a certain number of points. And once those points add wasn't. brought.up by. the province. up ta more than 10, bo- nuses begin to be paid. In the northwest Prince Ru- pert provincial civil ser- vants: are. awarded 13 points, which mean they earn an cxira $1,014 a ~ year. But employees in smaller “Smithers. are cre- dited with 11 points, bring- ‘ing in $858 a year. ~ Kitimat and Terrace aren't on. -the.. isolation bonus eligibility list. Without the province releasing the rationale for creating the bonuses in the. first place, it isn’t known why Prince Rupert quali- fies yet Kitimat and Ter- race do not:: McEachern did say the number of qua- lifying places has been re- duced ‘over the years. Provincial employees living in the Hazeltons also qualify as do those living in Kitwanga and up Hwy37 North. Isalation allowances are popular with other public sector unions, including those who represent fed- eral workers. Nurses be- longing to the B.C. Nurses’ Union and living in Ter- race, Kitimat, Prince Ru- pert, the Hazeltons and Smithers. get extra pay. Coast Mountain school district teachers in Hazel- tons, Stewart and Kitwan- ga receive more money. The federal government also has an isolation al- lowance program but no employees along the Hwyl6 corridor qualify. Federal employees in Ste- wart do, however, and the amount depends upon if a person is married or single. GRIME ha! sroonens bag" IPS Kidney disease strikes families, not only individuals, .| ‘When a Kidney Foundation volunteer knocks on your door, please give generously. THE KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF CANADA wuwkidney.ca DECEMBER 2003 D Max Min poral D Max Min otal A Tt T reci lem emp = Presi i a aon a ns 12 -27 -45 0.0 13 «-2.8 -4.0 0,0 14 -2.1 7.9 0.0 15 22 -6.5 0,0 1 29 0.5 0.0 17 n/a nfa 0.0. 18 #08 -04 0.0 - DECEMBER 2002 LLRELEERIBLLRLERLED RIE RERDERERE REM RE EUR TS AL RARE. ‘WINTER MAINTENANCE H Wiuter Is here and with it comes winter driving [ conditions... When weather conditions are appropriate, sall iy applied to the road surface to eliminate compact 4 snow and ice. The salt takes approximately a 1/2 hour to. 7 start melting the snow and ice eventually turning itto ff slush, Motorists are advised to slow down to avoid hydroptaning. The slush will be plawed off ane to twa hours after the initial sak application. 4 Please remember tu adjust your driving habits for 9 winter conditions by reducing speedl when necessary. i This has been a message for your winter driving safely 1 from Nechako Northcoast Maintenance. 4 “Serving The Terrac AKO 333 - Your Local Highway & Bridge Maintenance Contractor 7 Ph: (250) 638-1881 The bast protection we've ever ollered on all 2003 and 2004 Chrystar, Jaape and Dadga vehiclas. 7 year or 115,000km powertrain warranty. Plus 24 hour Roadside Assistance.t GM, FORD, HONDA & TOYOTA DON'T MATEH IT. 000. * 0% takes hold next spring’ - when the current one ex-. pires. There are no general wage increases, but there are improvements to bene-. fit plans and a greater measure of job security: Tt more or less ends the prospect of labour unrest within the civil service, already hit by layoffs, when the current contract From front Mill opens. logging. That left 15,000 cubic metres of mill through the winter, There’s enough logs in the Terrace yard to run the mill for about two and a half. months, That timber was — hauled in November up until the IWA ordered the’. West | coast-wide strike, Fraser was trying to get as much timber.in as. possible ahead of a Jan. 1 stumpage increase. Poulin says the compa- ny doesn't want to slart the mill and then have to stop it because of a log short-. age. The West Fraser saw- mill here has been down since last June, workers there were laid off as a side effect of a sum- mer strike al the compa- ny's Kitimat pulp mill. About a dozen workers doing maintenance, secur- ity and safety work are now back on the job. — If the mill reopens Feb, 2, - roughly 45 more will go back to work then, Close to 40 more would return in mid-March once the planer ini]l restarts. . Another dark cloud over - the West Fraser mill here is the proposed softwood lumber settlement on how much Canadian companies can ship tothe - US. Poulin said it would be. particularly bad for this mill. [t's one of the highest cast producers for West Fraser, he said, and as.a resull would be one of the first to shut down when the company nears its duty- free export limit. West Fraser, which has ilready come out against the deal, would be-re- quired to cut its production hy 400,000 board feet per year from current levels. Poulin said that’s equival- ent to the production of two of its sawmills. Poulin said West Fraser uses incentives lo encour- age workers and mills to achieve high production levels. logs - stranded in the bush that. were necded to feed the. . presently.” when ° that (hrealens to impose quotas ~ (* Oo een ee: val ts GET READY TO DRIVE HOME A WINNER‘? DURING THE CHRYSLER, JEEP, DODGE YEAR END CELEBRATION EVENT. 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